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Seven years after veteran politician John Keen passed on, his family is now embroiled in a drawn-out row over the management of his multi-billion-shilling property.

Last week, a section of the families of Keen’s second and third wives moved to subdivide a parcel of land in Karen by erecting a wall.

This is a move that the family of the first wife, Gladwell Wairimu, faulted as a conspiracy to kick them out.

At the centre of the tussle pitting beneficiaries of a will he coined in 2015 and his wives is alleged irregular transfer and sale of his land to non-beneficiaries and Limited Liability Companies. The children of Keen’s first wife Gladwell Wairimu have moved to court seeking cancellation of ‘irregular 43 title deeds’ issued to unsuspecting buyers of Keen’s land sold to them by their step mother Rosemary Sanau and stepsister Pamela Soila who have been accused of plotting to have Wairimu’s children evicted and take control of the entire multi-billion estate.

Sanau and Soila who are among the executors of Keen’s Will are accused of irregularly transferring 12 prime properties in Karen belonging to Wairimu to Resson Gardens Limited which include her matrimonial home where she lived since 1974.

The two have also been taken to court for allegedly transferring Wairimu’s 37 plots in Kilifi valued at Sh 270 million to a company that is not a beneficiary in the estate called The Coast Development Company Limited.

Also, at the centre of dispute is reported sale of four other prime properties in Karen belonging to the late Wairimu and which are valued to cost 78,250,000.

Court documents

Sanau and Soila have also been taken to court for facilitating the loss of Wairimu’s Kajiado farm measuring 125 acres and loss of her Namanga town title deed that is leased to Equity Bank Limited.

In the court documents, Wairimu’s children Victoria Naishorua Keen and Eva Sein Keen are seeking orders to stop Sanau and Soila from interfering with their father’s property, revocation of their letters of administration and orders to conduct a forensic audit of Keen’s bank accounts.

Through their lawyer, Peter Mugalo, the two claim that Sanau and Soila have sold Keen’s property worth Sh1, 487, 767,117. 14 besides depleting Sh 34m held at Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Sh53m held at Kenya Commercial Bank Limited, Sh641,141.00 held at Credit Bank Limited and Sh1.8m held at Equity Bank Limited. “In the interest of justice and fairness, this application be certified urgent due to the inherent danger that the remaining 16 immovable properties may be transferred irregularly before the Grant of probate is confirmed,” Mugalo noted in court documents.

Keen who passed away in December 2016 had also named Judge Isaac Lenaola of the Supreme Court and attorney Maina Wachira, as his will’s executors.