Kibaki’s Ksh150Bn Estate and the Man Who Wants Him Exhumed

Jacob Ocholla Mwai, the man seeking a piece of the late former President Mwai Kibaki’s Ksh150 billion estate, faces a new hurdle after children of the former President led by Judith Wanjiku Kibaki opposed his move to have the siblings subjected to DNA tests to prove their parentage and Ocholla’s.

In a second and alternative prayer to the court, Ocholla and a woman codenamed JNL (also seeking to be recognized as a child of the late former President), had asked the court to order the exhumation of Kibaki’s body – to enable extraction and collection of samples for use in a DNA paternity test.

Recognizing Ocholla as a child of the former President would entitle him to a share of Kibaki’s vast estate valued at around Ksh150 billion, which includes commercial and residential properties as well as land parcels and stocks in various blue-chip firms. The 62-year old Ocholla, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the late former President, moved to court seeking to be recognized as his first-born child in April.

Ocholla claims to have met Kibaki who did not deny the parentage claim, and who asked him, as a son, not to do anything that could injure his character. He says that for 15 years, he has tried to engage the family to bring him into the fold to no avail – including through  the intervention of a senior Catholic cleric and a senior Judge (both now retired), three sets of lawyers and Kibaki’s older sister, Esther Waitherero (now deceased).

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When he first moved to court, Ocholla explained his fear that he would be locked out of the succession if the matter was not quickly resolved by the courts.

“That the Citor (Ocholla Mwai) has attempted to reach out to the Citees (Kibaki Children) multiple times but his efforts have not been successful. The Citor is afraid that the Citees might proceed with succession process without involving him and he might be left out of the estate of the deceased despite him being entitled to the share of the estate,” the court documents read in part.

Kibaki’s Estate

Muthaiga Home

Various conservative estimates place the value of Kibaki’s residential properties in the upmarket Muthaiga estate at Ksh600 million.

 Mweiga Estate

Ahead of his retirement, the State built a grand Ksh400 million home in Mweiga, Nyeri for the President, sitting on a 100-acre piece of land reportedly donated by a firm where Kibaki was a shareholder. however, would end up spending much of his time in retirement at his Muthaiga home in Nairobi.

Ranches & Mini-City Project

Kibaki’s total land holdings stood at over 30,000 acres in counties including Laikipia, Nakuru, Kwale and Kilifi. Among plans by his family are to set up an independent mini-city on 200 acres hived off his 10,000-acre farm on the outskirts of Nakuru city.

Describing the project located along along the Nakuru–Nyahururu road, a representative of the holding company, Gingalili Limited, stated: “The idea is to establish a gated community with more than 800 homes, a shopping complex, schools and other social amenities.”

Othaya Farm

Kibaki owned a 20 acre farm in his rural constituency of Othaya. It includes houses for the family, an airstrip, a police post, a tea farm, and two acres of avocado trees. He also owned a separate 10-acre tea farm in the area.

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