The family of former Cabinet Minister the late Njenga Karume is fighting in court over how to divide and share the property but one woman, Mary M’Mukindia, prides herself as the confidant and close friend of the late minister is swimming in money.
The Trustee is headed by three people, one George Ngugi Waireri (Chairman), Margaret Ndete, James Raymond Njenga, Henry Waireri Karume, Kungu Gatabaki and Grace Njoki Njenga.
Who is Mary M’Mukindia?
Mary M’Mukindia is listed as a non-executive director of GT Bank (alias Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd).
Now the story goes, being a close confidant and friend of Njinga Karume, Mary sat at the board of Jacaranda Hotels Chain and was instrumental in arranging a loan for the hotel chain from GT Bank. The loan was Ksh257 million.
She immediately thereafter resigned and went got a job at the board of GT Bank limited, which is now threatening to auction the Jacaranda Hotel over non-payment of the same loan she helped arrange.
How convenient?
The loan of over 257 million went on to finance the renovation/construction of another franchise of Njenga Karume, the Node Restaurant in Westlands, Nairobi.
Only Ksh17 million was used. Where did the rest of the money go?
Ms. Mary M’Mukindia used her position of being a close confidant of Njenga Karume to fleece his family in his death.
Who is really interested in collapsing the Business empire of Njenga Karume? Who is going to benefit the most from the auctioning of Jacaranda Hotel?
The hotel was put up on auction in July.
The money trail
The money has been used by the trustees to fight other beneficiaries of the properties, buy prime properties and defeat the course of justice.
In order to sideline some of the beneficiaries of their father’s and grandfather’s wealth, some trustees have taken upon themselves to rip where they did not sow.
There was a ruling on a case where Albert Kigera Karume one of the sons of the late minister had sued the Njenga Karume Trustees. The case failed because High Court Judge Roselyn Aburili failed to show up; to add on top of that, some files went missing.
A classic way to defeat justice in Kenya.
The Jacaranda CEO Charles Kimani has amassed wealth in quite a short time, He bought a prime land in Kiambu, a Mitsubishi, a Volkswagen Touareg and a 6-block apartments in Eastlands, Nairobi.
The Other Scam
The Njenga Karume Trustees is full of crooks.
Njenga Karume had a 633 acres tea farm and a factory known as Ngorongo.
The managers of the tea estate, in order to hide profits, sell tea to competitors, the Kanari Tea Factory.
Ill-motive
In September, 2019, Njenga Karume’s grand-daughter Michelle Wariara Karume, 25, died in the United States (US) after lacking funds for treatment. She had unsuccessfully begged for funds to cater for her medical bills.
The managers of the Njenga Karume Trust must come clean, use the money wisely to pay off some Ksh400 million owed to Kenya Revenue Authority in taxes.
The actual tax amount is Ksh197 million, the other Ksh203 million is interest accrued over the years.
Our source confirms that Jacaranda Hotels make about Ksh45 million per month, while Cianda House, which is also one of Njenga Karume’s properties brings in about Ksh14 million per month.
Instead of enriching themselves at the expense of the others, the debts need to be paid. Any hospitalized relative needs to be catered for.
We are reliably informed that the Medical Scheme that catered for all family members which was held by UAP Insurance has been discontinued, exposing the members to untold suffering and high hospital bills.
A family member was recently admitted to Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi for Kidney Stones disease, but the trustees refused to cater for their medical bills.
We are told that one is arm-twisted to drop a case in court so as to be catered for.
How inhumane?
The Board of Trustees Chairman is paid Ksh100,000 per sitting while the others get Ksh75,000 per meeting.
Can’t Njenga Karume’s friends i.e. former President Mwai Kibaki, Prof Waiganjo and even Uhuru Kenyatta help sit down these stalwart and make them agree?
