Powerful family locked in inheritance row

The mother of Transport Principal Secretary Nduva Muli (above) has accused him of lying as the dispute over the family’s multi-million-shilling property escalated Friday. PHOTO/FILE 

In Summary

• Mrs Muli says in a sworn affidavit that her son Nduva has been a stumbling block to an amicable resolution of the dispute, accusing him of lying that her husband split the company’s shares with him on equal terms.
• She further accuses Nduva of peddling falsehoods against Agnes, and her husband, lawyer Philip Murgor, saying that his claims are baseless and only intended to divert attention from the real dispute.
• In his response, Nduva accused his siblings of trying to illegally disinherit him from property he claims he legally acquired from his father.

By PAUL OGEMBA
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The mother of Transport Principal Secretary Nduva Muli has accused him of lying as the dispute over the family’s multi-million-shilling property escalated Friday.

Mrs Evangeline Celeste Muli has sided with her daughters, Ms Jane Nthanze Muli and Court of Appeal judge Agnes Murgor in their battle to stop the PS from interfering with the property left by her husband, former Attorney-General Mathew Guy Muli.

At the centre of the high-profile family dispute is Mukengesya Holdings Limited, the company which manages the family properties in various parts of the country.

Mrs Muli says in a sworn affidavit that her son Nduva has been a stumbling block to an amicable resolution of the dispute, accusing him of lying that her husband split the company’s shares with him on equal terms.

“My son has not been able to prove that my husband allocated him 50 per cent shares in the company. The dispute over the family estate has been going on for nearly 10 years mainly because of him (Nduva Muli) making unjustified claims to an inequitable portion of the estate,” she says.

She maintains that the company shares must be allocated equally among her four children and herself at 20 per cent each.

Mrs Muli says the family had tried to divide the shares equally but there was no resolution which led to her daughter, Nthanze, suing the PS.

She further accuses Nduva of peddling falsehoods against Agnes, and her husband, lawyer Philip Murgor, saying that his claims are baseless and only intended to divert attention from the real dispute.

“I am opposed to Nduva’s engagement in slanderous falsehoods to malign the good name of Agnes and that of her husband Philip Murgor, while avoiding the central issue which is to surrender his claim of 50 per cent shares in the company.”

The PS had in his replying affidavit to the suit accused his sister of using her position in the Judiciary to interfere with the court dispute and written to the Judicial Service Commission to investigate her conduct.

He swore that he suspected Agnes had personally dated the application at the High Court registry in her own handwriting and requested the JSC to investigate the identity of the handwriting and if established it was hers, they should take disciplinary action against her.

The allegations were also denied by Ms Melisa Njoroge from law firm of Ms Judy Thongori Advocates, who is acting for the sisters.

“I am shocked to learn that Nduva is stating that the handwriting on the application is that of Agnes. We were served at the counter by the registry clerks and at no point did we take the application to Judge Murgor,” swore Ms Njoroge.

FORMER DPP

Mrs Muli has also opposed her son’s application to have Mr Murgor disqualified from representing her in the dispute, saying that it will amount to denying her the right of legal representation.

“Nduva knows that I cannot afford the services of an advocate since he has retained income from the company for the past 10 years. His attempt to have my son-in-law stopped from representing me is unjustified,” says Mrs Muli.

Nduva had dragged Mr Murgor into the dispute, accusing him of being behind the move to publicly embarrass him and his family.

Nthanze sued the PS over allegations of mismanaging and fraudulently obtaining the shareholding of the company they inherited from their father and sought orders to stop him from including his wife Elizabeth Muli as a director in it.

She said that she had the consent of her sister Agnes and her brother, Mr Kenneth Mutinda Muli, to sue their brother for failing to account for the cash from their father’s multi-million-shilling estate.

According to the sisters, Nduva made false statements to fraudulently obtain majority shareholding in the company and that his wife had meddled with the management of the properties, leading to massive wastage.

The siblings argued that their father only agreed to incorporate Nduva as a director in the company because at the time Nthanze and Kenneth were out of the country, while Agnes was busy with the Goldenberg Inquiry.

The properties in dispute comprise several acres of beach plots in Malindi and developed real estate in Komarock Estate, Garden Estate, Kangundo and Tala.

In his response, Nduva accused his siblings of trying to illegally disinherit him from property he claims he legally acquired from his father.

He swore that the allegations that he acquired shares in the company fraudulently were malicious and only intended to embarrass him and his family.

The PS stated that at the time of incorporating the company, his father owned one indivisible share, while he owned the other. which translated to 50 per cent ownership for each.

He said he retained his shares after his father’s death and the rest were distributed to the other beneficiaries.

In a rejoinder to his reply, Nthanze wants the court to allow her to summon her brother for cross-examination.

The dispute will be heard by Mr Justice Luka Kimaru on April 8.