The children of former powerful provincial commissioner Eliud Mahihu are embroiled in a bitter legal battle over a Sh200 million gift to his last child.
The late Mahihu’s last born daughter Ann Wanjiru has sued her two elder brothers Wachira Mahihu and Ngari Muchoki for allegedly refusing to hand over the gift from her late father.
Mahihu, who was the top administrator in Coast Province on the night founding President Jomo Kenyatta died at State House, is said to have given Wanjiru a property in Nairobi’s Kileleshwa area as a gift.
The will by the deceased dated March 26, 1996, said the property would be given to Wanjiru separately and would not form part of her inheritance from her father’s estate.
Mahihu was an influential administrator and was one of the people who oversaw the handover of power to Daniel arap Moi in 1978. He died 11 years ago.
Court papers filed by Wanjiru said the two brothers have “failed to transfer to the applicant the gift bequeathed inter vivos to her by the deceased.”
“The respondents have outrightly forgone the deceased's express wishes in his will to have parcel L.R. NO. 209/7978 which was bequeathed to me as a gift inter vivos transferred to me,” she says in her affidavit.
She reiterates that the said property should not be considered to be part of her inheritance as the will specifies.
The will by the deceased states: “I declare direct and confirm that the gifts given by me inter vivos to my children or any of them shall not be considered or deemed to be part of the particular child’s inheritance or entitlement to my estate under this will.”
Wanjiru in her affidavit said that the deceased in his vast estate ensured that each family member was allocated specific properties “that did not form part and parcel of the estate that remained and which would then not be subject to rules of succession.”
She notes that the first respondent, Miriam Mahihu, her mother, is the appointed executor of the will of the estate of the deceased.
Wanjiru wants the respondents to be compelled to transfer L.R NO. 209/7978 as per the will of the late Eliud Mahihu.
She further wants to be awarded mesne profits of the suit property, whose value should be computed from the time of the confirmation of the grant.
Though she has not accused her mother of working in cahoots with his two brothers, Wanjiru said it is her contention that “the executrix, together with the second and third respondents have failed to carry out their duties to the deceased’s estate as required by law.”
Through Agimba and Associates Advocates, Wanjiru added that the second (Wachira) and third (Muchoki) respondents were also gifted properties inter vivos from the estate of the deceased and no one has interfered with their bequest thereon.
“The two were acting as trustees on my behalf due to the fact that I was a minor at the time the said gift was given to me,” she further said.
Wanjiru lamented that the respondents proceeded to rent out the property to tenants who have been paying rent to the two with no considerations forwarded to her.
“Upon my desire to have the said property transferred to me, the respondents collectively became hostile towards me, making unfounded allegations against my character, suggesting that I need to be intimately chaperoned by them,” she added.
Wanjiru goes on to state that as a direct result of the respondents acts, she has suffered and continue to suffer psychological anxiety and torture necessitating that the actions of her two brothers be stopped.
She added that the respondents have failed to carry out their duties to the deceased’s estate as required by law.
The matter has been fixed for a hearing November 26, at the High Court in Nairobi (Family Division).
