The family of the late former Minister Njenga Karume is set to sell 17 per cent stake of their late father’s Sh17.5 billion property.
The move is so as to raise Sh2.975 billion to pay debts after the Karume estate ran out of liquid cash.
According to the spokesperson Stephen Karau , “The estate is rich in properties but it does not have the liquid money.
The late Karume’s estate owes KRA and other creditors Sh350 million and Sh 2.62 billion respectively.
Among the products for sale include Village Inn hotel, 25 acres of Land in Elementaita and Kacheliba tea estate.
According to Karume daughter Jane “The decision to settle outstanding bills is part of the deal we signed in May this year binding us to a mediation process. This has led to the formation of the mediation council for the Njenga Karume estate.”
The family, the trustee and executors were addressing journalist at a Nairobi hotel after they announced to settle the family battles outside the court.
“The mediation council comprises of the ten generic families of Njenga, the trustees and executors,” Njenga Karume’s grandson Matu Njenga said.
The Karume estate has been the subject of bitter wars between the trustees Karume appointed before his death in 2012 and his children.
The trustees are George Warieri, Kung’u Gatabaki and Margaret Nduta Kamithi whom his children wanted to be replaced for allegedly mismanaging the estate.
“We asked if President Uhuru Kenyatta and NASA leader Raila Odinga have had a handshake why can’t we also follow in their footsteps so that we can agree as a family,” Jane said.
The mediation council has become the supreme decision making organ for the estate.
“This is a major development that will see the vast estate restored and its huge potential unlocked so that it can serve those it was intended,” Karau said.
The family said they have frozen all the court processes.
“We believe in the next three months we will have an agreement on how we will run the business and triple it the way my dad wanted. He told us that he wanted us to triple the business in five years,” Jane who spoke on behalf of the family said.
The family said they were not interested in the past but will focus on solutions to put the properties back on foot.
Among the properties the trustees had earmarked to sell without the family knowledge include the iconic Village Inn and the 11 parcels totalling 111.24 acres of the Kacharoba Farmland but had now been stopped after the family agreed to work together.