Former Cabinet Secretary James Macharia’s Family in Battle Over Father’s Estate

James Macharia, a prominent Cabinet secretary in former President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration, is currently embroiled in a bitter inheritance dispute over his late father's multi-million-shilling estate.

Following the death of Julius Macharia Ndugire in June 2017 without a will, his seven-member family has been divided over the distribution of properties, including bank accounts containing an unknown sum of money, four plots in Murang'a, three in Nairobi's Dandora, one in Eastleigh Section VII, and one in Laikipia. The dispute has resulted in two factions within the family, with Macharia and his mother (Ms Wanjiku) and siblings represented in one corner and his eldest children, Jane and Naftaly, in the other. Accusations of court deception, asset disposal, information concealment, and illegal bank account withdrawals have been levied against Macharia, his siblings, and his mother.

Jane and Naftaly have accused their younger siblings of distributing their father's estate without the court's permission. To halt the distribution of assets, they have filed a petition stating that rental income generated from four units in Dandora and Eastleigh has been misused. They propose entrusting the money from the said properties to an interest-bearing bank account under the names of their mother, Peter, and themselves or to court custody.

Additionally, Jane and Naftaly want their mother to present audited records of the estate and its transactions. They accuse their mother of selling their father's pickup truck without informing them, while their mother argues that it was sold only as scrap. She says that rental earnings were utilized in repair work and that they spent Sh4.6 million on their father's headstone. However, Jane and Naftaly claim to have never participated in such spending and that records indicate that the vehicle was delegated to another party.

Jane and Naftaly are opposed to their brother, Mr Macharia, who is building a multi-storey apartment in the Eastleigh property. It has been reported that contractors recently demolished rental homes on the piece of land in Eastleigh Section VII to make way for new apartments. This property is considered a valuable asset and some parties involved in an asset-sharing agreement are requesting that it be given to Mr Macharia with their mother retaining a life interest in it.

The disagreement began when Ms Wanjiku called a family meeting in 2018 to distribute assets which was met with opposition from some of her children. Despite attempts to resolve the issue, a succession suit was filed in September 2020, with Ms Wanjiku and Mr Macharia named as administrators of the estate.