Samburu tycoon's sons battle over multi-million-shilling estate

Vintage cars, expansive land, business enterprises, accounts in foreign banks and guns form part of the multi-million-shilling empire that the family of the late tycoon Saddiq Bhola are fighting over.

Mr Bhola, who rlived in Maralal, Samburu County, had a vast estate,  including buildings, livestock and shares in the stock market. He had accumulated assets in Nakuru, Laikipia and Samburu counties. When he died in the mid-1990s, his property was valued at around half a billion shillings.

Ten years after his death in March 1996, his wealth would become a source of disputes among his children and especially his sons. Bhola had left a written will detailing how they would inherit his wealth.

His property includes more than 1,000 acres in Rumuruti. Others listed in court documents include Maralal plots, land in Nakuru municipality, Pepsi farm, Sh1 million cash, 15 vehicles including Morris, Ford, Mercedes and Chevrolet vintage cars, livestock and guns.

Letters of administration of his estate were issued to his two sons Mohammed Hanif and Mohammed Shabir. The grant was subsequently confirmed on December 6, 2000.

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However, the demise of the first administrator, Hanif, marked the beginning of a ten-year legal tussle between the remaining administrator and his two brothers, Rashid Mughal and Rafiq Mohammed.

Justice William Ouko sitting in Nakuru ruled that the 'will' appointing administrators was defective.

But Justice Anyara Emukule, who later handled the case, noted that the will was clear and was not disputed. "The wishes of the deceased should be respected and the proposed distribution by the administrator is neither illegal nor unreasonable," he ruled.

"For a will to have the force of law and be capable of being acted upon by the court, it must meet the requirements of a valid will provided for by the Law of Succession Act," Justice Emukule noted. An appeal by one of the objectors is pending determination.