By Mwenda Njoka

NAIROBI, KENYA: The story of Mutula Kilonzo’s life is the archetypal case of from rags to riches and far beyond.

Born in stark poverty some 64 years ago to Mzee Wilson Kilonzo Musembi and Mama Rhoda Koki Kilonzo in a remote village in Mbooni, Mutula grew to become not just one of the wealthiest Kenyans, but also one who would wine and dine with kings, princes and presidents.

His journey to becoming a lawyer began almost by accident. It was an incident where a relative used a corrupt magistrate to dispossess Mutula’s parents of their land that drove the young man—then 12 years—to have an interest in matters of law and justice.

“I came home one afternoon from school and found my parents and my grandmother in tears. When I inquired what the matter was, I was told that the local chief had brought a magistrate to demarcate our land and give part of it to a relative who was engaged in a land dispute with my parents,” Mutula told writer Tom Hollum in a 2005 interview.

Although at the time he had no idea what or who a magistrate was, he swore to himself that one day he would find a way to redress the wrong that had been done to his parents.

That day came when he became a lawyer and started his own practice from a small office overlooking Jevanjee Gardens in Nairobi.

It was in Kirima House where the now highly successful Kilonzo and Company Advocates was born in 1975. To set him up, his father bought Mutula an office table and some seats while Mutula bought a second-hand ex-military typewriter for Sh250 from his savings at the Kenya School of Law. In those days university students used to get a monthly allowance from the Government.

After a few months of law practice, Mutula got his break when he won a land case and used the proceeds to buy himself his first car and at the same time to buy back the land that his parents had lost to a relative.

From that day Mutula became addicted to acquisition of land perhaps as a way of compensating himself and his immediate family for what they had been denied for so long. By the time of this death, Mutula had acquired huge tracts of land in various parts of the country besides other real estate investments.

In the interview with writer Hollum, Mutula explained: “My greatest satisfaction was to acquire the land my parents had been robbed of and today (2005) I am happy to see my grandfather, father and mother are buried in the land they all shed tears for when the magistrate gave it away.”

Mutula had purpose

Asked during the interview what made him so successful in life, Mutula responded: “I had a purpose to live and not just to exist. I had a purpose to succeed in life and I would not let anything stand in my way.”

Mutula’s single-minded desire to succeed against all odds became evident when he joined University of Dar es Salaam in 1969 and graduated on top of his class with First Class Law Degree despite attempts by the Tanzanian government to frustrate foreign students. From University of Dar es Salaam Mutula joined the Kenya School of Law where again he was the top student despite the existence at the time of covert strategy to discourage and often fail African students so as to keep the law profession a preserve of whites and Asians.

Among his classmates at the Kenya School of Law included his cousin Justice Philip Waki, Justice Erastus Githinji, Justice Riaga Omolo and Justice Joyce Aluoch. When they graduated from Kenya School of Law, the two cousins—Waki and Mutula—debated what the best and quickest way was for young lawyers to make loads of money and start living the good life.

Mutula was convinced that starting a law firm was the best way while Waki felt that a good job was the way to go. So Waki got employed while Mutula started his private legal practice. When Waki bought a car within a few months of employment through his employer’s car loan scheme, Mutula started doubting whether he had made the right decision by going into private practice so early in his career.

He was, however, encouraged by his cousin, Waki, to continue with the private practice. And soon his first break came when he made some good money and bought himself his first car—a Datsun 120Y straight from the showroom at DT Dobie.

The hilarious part is that when Mutula bought his first car he had to leave it at the showroom for over a month because he had forgotten that one needed not just to have a driving licence, but also to know how to drive before taking possession of the car. In those days car dealers insisted on seeing your driving licence before releasing the car to you. Mutula had none so he left the car and enrolled in a driving school.

Armed with a brand new car and showing signs of success in his dressing and mannerism, Mutula was ready for the big break, which came less than a year after he started his practice. That is when he made his first million, a few months to end of 1975. His next big break came two years later when he was introduced to Hosea Kiplagat, a nephew to retired President Moi.