Battle for Fai Amario’s Sh487m business empire follows him to the grave

Fai stands for a chemical formula of a Spanish wine, while Amario means a vast, barren vineyard. Fai Amario was born as Peter Gilbert Njoroge Ng’ang’a on April 10 1954. He was an only child in a humble family living in Banana, Kiambu county.

Being intelligent and of age, Amario skipped three classes; from Class Two to Four, and from Four to Six at Thimbigwa Primary School in Kiambaa. He cleared and joined Starehe Boys’ Centre in 1969. After Starehe, Amario was admitted to the University of Nairobi to study pharmacy but he dropped out after only one semester. He secured a job at Kiwi Home Products, became a manager and manufactured his own Dush Shoe Polish.

He acquired a plot in Banana and set up a distillery but residents complained of stench and he shifted to Mukara, within Banana area. In 1981, he was chased out of Banana and moved to Naivasha. By then one could buy a bottle of beer and a packet of cigarettes for Sh10.

He changed his name to Fai Amario and started Fai Amarillo, the first locally owned company to join production of alcohol in Naivasha. According to Kamau Njuguna, a director with the East Africa Chamber of Commerce, Amario stands out for his role in the sector.

“Amario dared to venture where many feared and this opened the doors to other breweries in the country,” he says.
Amariowas however accused of killing two of his employees in 1996. The state dropped the charges. And in 2004, officers from the flying squad unit raided his home believing that he killed his wife Sarah Wanjiru, and buried her in his compound.

A search unveiled unlicensed shotguns, seven brand new but dismantled vehicles and 20 computers.
In 2005, he was sentenced to nine years at Kamiti Maximum Prison. He died in 2010, leaving an estate worth over Sh487 million estate to his heirs.

Court documents filed before Nakuru High Court Judge Justice Teresia Matheka show that Amario was involved with five women before he died and had six children with four of the women.

Succession case

After his death, Monica Wanjiru (deceased), one of his alleged wives, filed a succession case and included Amario’s children in the four houses; Miki Ng’ang’a, Marsha Dee, Sheena Euston, Yuri Gee, Sheila Wangari and a six-year-old.
The grant was confirmed on September 23, 2010 and the seven were listed as beneficiaries. However, on February 2, 2017 one Bernice Njeri protested the grant, on grounds that she was a widow to the late Amario and deserved a share in his property.

Njeri claimed that she got married to Amario on June 9, 2004. She produced certificates of marriage and photographs taken during the wedding. She deposed that by virtue of the marriage she was evidently a widow of the deceased. She accused Wanjiru of concealing to the court the fact that she (Njeri) was married to Amario.

“Strain landed on our marriage after Amario and I were arrested in 2005 on account of the deceased’s business dealings and I was in custody until 2006,” she told court.

She stated that she had to leave the country because of threats to her life and only learnt about Amario’s demise from her parents. She added that she agreed with Ng’ang’a that the succession matters would be held on hold to enable the school going children to get an education without any interference of the estate.

“The consent recorded in 2016 was entered without my knowledge and completely disinheriting me,” she said.
In response, Ng’ang’a averred that Njeri had remarried and even before Amario’s death, she filed for divorce in Milimani Chief Magistrate Court; Divorce Cause No 198 of 2008.

Njeri’s inclusion in Amario’s estate as a beneficiary is the contention before the high court and still pending.
Justice Matheka directed other members of the family to file new summons for confirmation of grant that include Njeri as one of the beneficiary.

Out of court settlement

The judge’s advice the family to agree and settle the matter outside court. However, mediation talks collapsed forcing the matter back to court. In her ruling dated October 9, 2020, Ms Matheka disallowed Njeri’s application seeking revocation of the grant issued to Wanjiru and Amario’s children.

She also disallowed Njeri’s application seeking the setting aside of a consent signed by the beneficiaries over the distribution of the property.
“The family is directed to include Njeri’s name in the list of beneficiaries and file new summons for confirmation of grant,” ruled Matheka.

Matheka also ordered a report to be filed on the status of the Amario’s properties and a valuation report to be filed on a plot in Thika. However, before the valuation report was filed, a dispute erupted between Ng’ang’a and his younger sister Ms Dee. The dispute ended on Tuesday, when Justice Matheka ordered Ng’ang’a to pay her sister Sh134,000 monthly upkeeps.

The money will be remitted by the 28th of every month. Matheka noted that 32-year-old Marsha Dee is living with a disability and cannot provide for herself. Ng’ang’a controls Fai Amarillo Ltd, a family company that holds 90 per cent shares in Amario’s multimillion estate.

Ms Matheka also ordered Ng’ang’a to pay Sh481,000 in arrears dating back to March. The court intervened after the siblings failed to agree on the amount Ng’ang’a should pay to Ms Dee, and the mode of payment. Dee filed an application on June 7, 2021 demanding Sh134,000 monthly payments. She sought orders to have her brother pay for her education, rent, food and medicine.

Dee claimed that she has been living with a disability for over a year and is unable to care for herself.
She claimed that their father’s company was making more than Sh28 million every four months and Ng’ang’a, who controls it, is making over Sh2 million monthly. Ng’ang’a, however, challenged the application and termed it a misrepresentation of facts.