Kirima daughter in fresh legal battle with stepsister over property management

A fresh legal battle has erupted in the family of former Starehe MP Gerishon Kirima after one of his daughters moved to the High Court seeking the dissolution of her father’s trust, which controls dozens of prime properties.

In a new petition filed before the Family Division of the High Court in Nairobi, Alice Njeri Kirima, a daughter of the late billionaire through his second widow, Teresia Kirima, wants the court to dissolve the trust, arguing that it had been dysfunctional for more than 15 years due to alleged mismanagement by her stepsister.

The case opens a new front in the long-running wrangles over the vast Kirima family estate, which includes prime properties and investments.

Court documents show that Njeri sued her stepsister, Anne Wangari Kirima, daughter of the first wife, late Agnes Warunguru, and her uncle James Njuguna Kirima, the settlor’s brother and second designated trust chairman. Both are listed as trustees of the Kirima Trust.

She accuses them of illegally managing trust properties without a quorum, flouting the Trust Deed and fraudulently registering an unauthorised new trustee.

Njeri further accuses Wangari of single-handedly operating and controlling trust assets to the detriment of other beneficiaries, while James Njuguna, who is said to be over 85 years old and dependent on a nurse, remains incapable of participating in the affairs of the trust.

The trust, incorporated on November 12, 1996, holds more than 20 immovable properties spread across Nairobi, Kajiado and Kiambu counties, including plots in Parklands, Kibera, Kariobangi, Pangani, Dagoretti, Dandora, among other prime locations.

In her affidavit, Njeri informed the court that the trust was created to manage and develop family wealth for future generations.

“The aim of Kirima, and the foundation of the trust, was to ensure that his assets and income were managed and maintained, and that his then undeveloped properties were developed to generate future income,” the court papers state.

Court documents reveal that the late businessman established the trust with two founding objectives: 20 per cent dedicated to education through the Kirima Education Trust, while 80 per cent was earmarked for investment, development, repair and maintenance of properties held by the trust.

“Kirima intended that both families representing his two wives, his late first wife Waruguru and his surviving widow Teresia, be represented,” the court papers state.

Njeri says the trust originally had four trustees: the late Gerishon Kamau Kirima, James Njuguna Kirima, either Fred Kirima or Samuel Ndei Kirima, and Anne Wangari Kirima.

However, she argues that the deaths of some trustees rendered the trust incapable of operating legally. 

Court papers state that the settlor, Gerishon Kamau Kirima, died on December 2, 2010.

Fred Kirima had predeceased him in 2006, while Samuel Ndei Kirima, the remaining trustee from the second house, died on June 25, 2011.

This left Wangari and Njuguna as the only remaining trustees, below the minimum quorum of three trustees required under the Trust Deed for any business to be transacted.

Njeri argues that with only two trustees remaining, the trust became dormant and incapable of legally carrying out its mandate.

“The trust has been dormant for over 15 years as a consequence of the above, and it did not even file any returns during that entire period,” Njeri states in her affidavit.

She claims that despite the lack of a quorum, the two trustees allegedly attempted to appoint a new trustee in March 2025.

“On or about March 9, 2025, 15 years after the loss of quorum, the respondents purportedly held a meeting at which they appointed one Caine Kamau Wanjau as a third trustee,” the documents read.

Njeri says the changes were later nullified by the Registrar of Companies following a forensic audit conducted by the Business Registration Service.

She claims the attempted appointment was declared illegal due to lack of quorum and failure to comply with the Trust Deed.

Njeri further states that Njuguna is mentally incapacitated, frail and constantly dependent on a nurse, leaving Wangari to solely run the trust’s vast property portfolio.

She argues that Wangari, who is also an administrator of the deceased businessman’s estate, is capable of manipulating trust assets in her favour and to the detriment of other beneficiaries.

In this case, Njeri wants the High Court to issue an order of mandamus directing the Registrar of Companies to dissolve the Kirima Trust.

She is also seeking interim orders to freeze all bank accounts held by the trust’s registered trustees, including an Equity Bank account at the Supreme Centre Branch, and to restrain the respondents from performing any functions as trustees pending the full hearing of the petition.

In the alternative, she wants the court to appoint her as a trustee representing the second house of the Kirima family to restore quorum and allow the trust to function.

The case is pending hearing.