The family of the late Kenyan politician Kenneth Matiba is embroiled in a battle for millions of shillings with his lawyer John Mburu.
Lawyer Mburu represented the multi-party crusader in court where he was awarded a compensation of Sh978 million for illegal detention and torture by President Moi’s administration.
The amount has since risen to more than Sh1 billion due to accrued interest.
Mburu says he is entitled to Sh202,715,839 from the amount but the family of Matiba has sidelined him and reduced him to a “bitter enemy” for merely demanding his due.
He accuses the family of arrogating themselves ownership of the entire amount to his exclusion.
Through lawyer Nicholas Ombija, Mburu has filed a case in the High Court seeking to compel the government to pay him his share.
In his petition, he accuses the government and Matiba’s family of colluding to deny him his percentage.
Mburu has told Justice James Makau that the government paid out Sh200 million to the late politician’s family last month without consulting him and is planning to disburse another Sh500 million in June.
Mburu alleged that the family tried to file a reduced bill of costs.
He claimed that the family has made efforts to be paid behind his back, and took full grant of letters of administration secretly in order to proceed with the case without his knowledge.
“It is clear that they are trying to be paid the decretal sum, plus interest, behind the advocate’s back in order to deprive him of his just dues,” he said.
Matiba passed away in April last year while receiving treatment at Karen Hospital in Nairobi.
Matiba was chairman of the Kenya Football Federation from 1974 to 1978, and was elected to the Kenyan Parliament in the 1983 general elections from the Mbiri Constituency (later renamed Kiharu) in the Muranga District.
He served as Minister of Transport and Communications under the KANU administration led by President Daniel arap Moi, resigning in December 1988.
In his later years, Matiba was dogged by ill-health stemming from his 1990 imprisonment.
His business holdings also suffered, with his hotel chain being briefly taken into administration (although he regained control) and Hillcrest School sold by administrators (a case he legally contested).
Matiba regained control of the school, which he later sold to a consortium led by Fanisi.
He founded The People newspaper. It began as a weekly in 1992, becoming a daily in 1998; however, it was a drain on Matiba’s finances.