NAIROBI, Kenya – A legal battle over the estate of the late former Attorney General James Boro Karugu has escalated into one of Kenya’s most consequential succession disputes, drawing in criminal investigators, senior advocates, and raising uncomfortable questions about accountability within the legal profession.
What began as a routine probate process following Karugu’s death in November 2022 has morphed into a high-stakes confrontation involving allegations of forgery, conspiracy to defraud, and obstruction of justice, with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) now firmly in the spotlight.
Karugu, who served as Kenya’s second Attorney General from 1980 to 1981, built a reputation as a principled public servant and accomplished scholar.
His career spanned roles as Crown Counsel, Deputy Public Prosecutor, and later Attorney General, before transitioning into private enterprise.
Internationally, he was celebrated for his academic achievements, studying in the United States and the United Kingdom, and earning recognition from Bowling Green State University, which named him among its top 100 alumni in 2010 and awarded him a posthumous honorary doctorate in 2024 for public service.
That legacy now stands in sharp contrast to the controversy engulfing his estate.
At the centre of the dispute is a Will and Settlement Trust Deed dated April 2, 2014, which determines the distribution of Karugu’s substantial estate.
The assets include prime real estate, business interests, and shareholdings in several companies, notably Mathara Holdings Ltd. and its subsidiaries—enterprises he co-founded with his late wife, Margaret Waithira Karugu.
Court filings reveal that private forensic examiners and the DCI independently concluded that the contested Will is not authentic.
By November 2025, investigators had forwarded an inquiry file to the DPP recommending criminal charges, including forgery, uttering false documents, and conspiracy to defraud.
Several individuals are named in the investigations, among them Jane Kabiu, a former company secretary; advocate Kimani Richu; and Peter Mbuthia Gachuhi, an advocate associated with the law firm Kaplan & Stratton and a respondent in the succession proceedings. Others cited include Eric Mwaura Karugu, Eliud Gatambia, and Pastor Joshua Kimani.
Investigators allege that Gachuhi played a central role in the custody and presentation of the disputed Will and resisted efforts to subject the original documents to forensic examination.
Notably, the originals were allegedly retained at Kaplan & Stratton for nearly three years and were only surrendered to the DCI after sustained pressure—despite probate rules requiring original testamentary documents to be lodged in court.
Correspondence from Murgor & Murgor Advocates to both the DCI and the DPP in January 2026 accuses senior lawyers representing the suspects of deliberately frustrating investigations.
The letters claim attempts were made to block access to the original Will in May 2025 and later to halt the intended arraignment of suspects.
In a further twist, conservatory orders were issued in January 2026 under Constitutional Petition No. E027 of 2026, temporarily restraining the DCI and DPP from proceeding with prosecutions.
Petitioners argued that criminal proceedings would prejudice ongoing succession cases—an argument critics dismiss as a calculated delay tactic.
A High Court ruling delivered in May 2025, however, had already rejected similar attempts to stop criminal investigations.
The court held that succession courts lack the technical capacity to determine document forgery, affirming that such findings must be grounded in forensic and criminal investigations.
