Aging sisters lay claim to Sh3.5 billion piece of land

For almost two months, the body of an elderly woman has been lying at a mortuary as her burial plans are thrown into disarray over where and who should bury her. Behind the delayed burial, whose date has been left to a court in Nairobi to determine, is a vicious fight for a stake in, among other properties, a 50-acre prime piece of land in Embakasi, next to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Non-family members have been sucked into the succession struggle, leaving four elderly sisters at the centre of the claim on their father’s estate on one hand and their father’s clan on the other. Who will carry the day?

Haggard-faced and worn out, four women gathered last week in Mitaboni, Machakos, to tell the story of their lives.

They cut sorry figures, the combination of age, hardship, and mental anguish having taken a toll on them.

Looking at these women, it is difficult to believe that between them, they could be worth Sh3.5 billion.

Because they have never been to school, they may not realise what that statement means, even though they know that Sh3.5 billion is a lot of money.

However, Litha Kathumba (68), Amina Mbula (60), Evelyne Muthike (51), and Joyce Mukonyo (49), may never live to see even a fraction of that money because the Sh3.5 billion they lay claim to is in the form of a large piece of land that belonged to their father, and which is now the subject of a family dispute.

The land is located near the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.

Their illiteracy does not help matters either as they have to rely on interpreters to analyse a bundle of documents in their possession.

Their father, John Kathumba, was a cook at the Kapenguria prison when Kenya’s founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, spent time there.

He had two wives — Esther Nzula and Beatrice Syokau. Nzula, the first wife with whom Kathumba had 10 children — six daughters and four sons — died a few years ago, while Syokau never bore any children.

In a twist of fate, all the four sons and two daughters have died. The four sisters are Kathumba’s only surviving children.

The death of their stepmother, Syokau, on July 4 this year, has caused an intriguing family feud over who should benefit from Kathumba’s vast estate, including the 50-acre piece of land in Embakasi, which is what remains of the more than 1,000 acres that the old man originally owned.

Syokau lived on the land until 2010. On it stand 34 aging iron-sheet houses that are each rented out for a meagre Sh600 a month.

All was calm until she died and the sisters started making burial arrangements.

Suddenly, their nephews and nieces — the children of two of their brothers — are claiming ownership of the land.

In addition, a Dickson Wambua has come forward to claim that Syokau gave him power of attorney before she died.

The family has, however, disowned the power of attorney, arguing that, legally, she could not give it over property she did not own in the first place.

“Like us, Syokau was only a beneficiary of our father’s estate,” says Litha. “She did not receive any power of attorney from my father, so she could not transfer it to anybody else. In fact, she could only be a beneficiary of part of the estate.”

But Wambua, who was working as a clerk at a law firm when he met Syokau, says he got the power of attorney after he gained the trust of the old woman.

He claims that he took it upon himself to take care of her after he realised that she was living alone. He adds that he arranged for her transfer from a house on the contested land when she became sickly.

“She was living alone and we found her neglected. We assisted her. Where were those children when she needed help most?” he asks.

Wambua says the truth about Syokau’s last days and wishes will come out one day and vindicate him.

“All I want is for my friend, Syokau, to be buried decently. Her property is not my priority right now,” he told DN2 on telephone.

'ULTERIOR MOTIVES'

Litha insists that those who removed her stepmother from her house had ulterior motives.

“If they were genuine, they should have informed at least one of us. Can they say we were not traceable? We have always treated that case as abduction unless we are convinced otherwise,” says Mbula.

David Ngunzu, the assistant chief of Mathunya sub-location in Mitaboni, says the matter of Syokau’s disappearance was reported to his office as well as the Embakasi police station.

“Whoever relocated her from her house, and for whatever reason, did not inform the authorities or the family, so the family is finding it hard to understand that there was goodwill,” says the chief.

Ngunzu says that although Syokau did not obtain power of attorney from her husband, she or her heirs are is entitled to an equal share of Kathumba’s estate.

The chief says the courts should determine if Wambua’s claim of power of attorney was legally obtained because that is beyond his jurisdiction.

One of the major twists in Syokau’s fight for the land is that when she sought the Ministry of Land’s help to get a title deed of her husband’s property in the mid 1990s, a title deed — NA/A5/04/145, registration number 194 for parcel number 145 — was issued but it has been found to be “fake”. It is dated July 1997.

Syokau lived on the Sh7,000 she earned as rent every month from several of the 34 cheap houses. Initially, her nephew, Nzau Mutua, collected rent before she replaced him with a tenant named Peter Mwasya.

Mwasya, who lives next to Syokau’s old house, says “different people have been harassing” him over the rent.

“I don’t know what to do,” says Mwasya, who had spent the day at the local chief’s office over the matter when we visited.

TAKE A BACK SEAT

The sisters insist that they have a right to the land despite their varied marital statuses. Litha, the eldest, is married while Mbula was once married but is now back home. Muthike has never been married while the youngest, Mukonyo, is married.

Elders from their father’s clan say the women should take a back seat on burial and property matters as it is men who, traditionally, can claim inheritance from their parents.

One of the contentious issues is the grave site. Jacob Mung’uti, an elder, says that culturally, the daughters should have a minimal role in the matter.

“We want to bury Syokau first. We have no problem with anyone but women must respect our traditions. We have even dug a grave,” says Mung’uti.

However, the sisters have rejected the burial site.

A “consent order” that set the burial date for August 9 this year gave Litha and Mbula the right to bury their stepmother.

Although contested by the Wambua group, the order also said the two should foot the burial expenses and post-mortem costs. Syokau should also be buried next to her husband’s grave, according to the order.

However, this may change following a ruling by the High Court on Tuesday last week that the matter goes for full hearing between September 2 and 4.

On August 9, chaos erupted at the burial site after the sisters insisted that another grave be dug. This was the second burial ceremony to abort.

During the first one in July, the sisters went to Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary, only to realise that the body had been picked up by other people.

Aided by sympathisers, they made a dramatic chase of the hearse and intercepted it in Machakos before it made its way to Mitaboni. It was taken to Machakos Funeral Home.

Our team last week found Syokau’s grave still ready for the burial ceremony. The sisters insist that a new grave be dug because the old one has been open for several weeks and that, therefore, it is “dirty”.

Kivuva Wathome, one of Syokau’s grandsons, insists that they should bury her in the rejected grave as “digging two graves is taboo among the Kamba”.

“A grave must have something buried in it, so the idea of a second one must not arise. It is next to her husband’s remains, so we find no problem,” Kivuva says.

He cites a similar case in 2009 when his aunts’ mother died. “Two graves were dug and we had to conduct traditional rituals on one, including slaughtering a sheep and burying its innards there. We do not want to repeat that. Several family members have since died in mysterious circumstances,” claims Kivuva.

'COMPLICATED BY OUTSIDERS'

Many people see the fight over who buries Syokau and in which grave as a battle for Kathumba’s estate, but the chief thinks these are mere sideshows.

“The law is clear on what should happen in this case. We have a family tree that details who Kathumba’s real heirs are. The matter is being complicated by outsiders who want a piece of it. The government is aware of the two families; Nzula’s and Syokau’s,” says Ngunzu.

Syokau’s body will remain at the mortuary in Machakos until the case is heard and determined.

Independent investigations indicate that the fight might have escalated due to impending compensation for the land by the Kenya Airports Authority.

Situated next to the airport, there has been attempts by the authority to acquire the land to avoid construction by private developers.

Efforts to get concise information about the authority’s interest in the land failed.

Our emails to the management, seeking to know the status of the land as far as the authority was concerned and if there had been plans to compensate its owners or their beneficiaries had not been answered by the time we went to press.