Mutula Kilonzo's Law Firm Slaps ex-President Moi’s Estate With Sh69 Million Bill

Kilonzo and Company Advocates, a law firm owned by the late Senator Mutula Kilonzo's children, Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr and Kethi Kilonzo, has submitted a bill worth Sh69.7 million to the High Court. 

The bill is for defending former President Daniel Moi in a long-standing case brought against him by media mogul S.K. Macharia. The lawsuit asserts that a series of lenders, as well as Moi and Cabinet Minister Joseph Arap Letting, violated Macharia's rights and profited unjustly through financial coercion. The law firm's lawyer liaised with the court 21 times, between February 2004 to November 2022.

Standing accused is Moi's estate which is represented by Senior Counsel Zehrabanu Janmohammed in a case claiming that in 1981, Madhupaper International, Macharia's firm, acquired a loan of Sh50 million from three entities to build a factory dedicated to tissue paper production using recycled paper as raw material. According to reports, the lending institutions held the right to take possession of all the assets of the paper company as collateral assurance for the funding.

Madhupaper was put under receivership in 1989 by the Kenya National Capital Corporation to recover the loan. In 2003, High Court judge Richard Kuloba ruled in favour of Mr Macharia, saying that the lenders had used undue pressure and economic coercion on him and his company to overpay a loan by more than Sh56 million. However, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision in 2008, claiming that there was no evidence of coercion or duress. 

In 2013, Mr  Macharia sought compensation through the Supreme Court but his case was rejected. He had entered an agreement with Standard Chartered to gather funds from other sources on his behalf and had reported to the Bank Fraud Investigation department in 2000 that they had not credited his account with Sh55 million.