The daughter of former Attorney General James Boro Karugu, who is in a succession dispute with her siblings over their late father’s estate, has asked the court to be enjoined in proceedings where her brothers seek to block prosecution over alleged forgery charges.
In her written submissions before Judge Bahati Mwamuye, Victoria Nyambura Karugu said she should be allowed to join proceedings in which her brothers, alongside two prominent lawyers, a pastor and a company secretary, are challenging prosecution over fraud and forgery charges.
Through her lawyer, Senior Counsel Phillip Murgor, she told the court on Tuesday that she has a direct and legitimate stake in the matter. She argued that she would suffer prejudice if she is kept out of the case.
In her rejoinder to the petition by lawyers Peter Mbuthia Gachui of Kaplan and Stratton, William Kimani Richu, Jane Wangechi Kabiu (Karugu's company secretary), Eliud Karugu Gatambi and Pastor Joshua Mwaura, Nyambura maintained that the threshold for admission as an interested party had been fully met.
Murgor told the court that Nyambura’s interests in the matter “are far from peripheral in nature.”
He said Nyambura’s interests are “proximate and identifiable” as she is a party to, and an objector in, the succession proceedings, as well as the complainant in ECCU Inquiry File No. 47/2025.
It is in this case that criminal investigations into suspected forgery of the deceased’s testamentary documents have been ongoing since June 2023.
The investigations are being conducted by the DCI who are the 2nd respondent, with approval of prosecution by the 1st respondent who is the Director of Public Prosecutions, which the petitioners now seek to stop.
“She therefore has an identifiable stake in these proceedings as she is directly affected by the case and, in particular, by the relief(s) that may or may not be granted by this court depending finds for or against the petitioners,” the court was told.
Murgor further said that his client has a right to a fair hearing, and that decisions about her should not be made behind her back.
"The Intended Interested party further submits that she has the right to fair hearing under Article 50 (1) of the Constitution, and that it is a principle of natural justice that a person should not be condemned unheard, that decisions should not be reached behind their backs, that proceedings that affect their lives and property should not continue in their absence and that they should not be precluded from participating in them", he said.
Murgor added that his client had demonstrated a clear, identifiable and proximate interest in the proceedings.
“The issues raised in the case directly touch on my client’s mandate and operations. The prejudice to be suffered is not remote. It is real, immediate and substantial,” he argued.
In the case, the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions have asked the court to dismiss a petition filed by Gachui and six other applicants seeking to halt criminal investigations against them.
Gachui and the six others have argued that the decision to charge them is erroneous, as the issue of Karugu’s wealth is still in the High Court.
While asking the court to enjoin Nyambura in the case, Murgor said that his client does not intend to introduce new issues but will strictly confine herself to the matters already before the court.
“We do not seek to alter the character of the case. Our participation will be limited to supporting the court in resolving the questions already framed,” he said.
Nyambura added that she is already a complainant in another criminal proceeding against some of the accused persons, including her two brothers, Mwaura Karugu and Githara Karugu, and a former company secretary to her deceased father, Jane Wangechi Kabiu.
They are charged jointly with conspiring to defraud her shares by fraudulently transferring them from one company to another.
In court papers, the DPP says the suspects manipulated key documents, including the last will and the trust deed, in an attempt to disinherit Karugu's biological children from the multi-billion-shilling estate.
The matter is also linked to High Court Succession Cause No. E916 of 2023, In the Matter of the Estate of James Boro Karugu (Deceased), where Nyambura is listed as an objector. It is also linked to a criminal case against Wangechi and her two brothers, Mwaura Karugu and Githara Karugu, pending before the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The case will return to court on April 21, 2026, when the High Court is expected to determine whether the prosecution can proceed and may also rule on Nyambura’s application to formally join the proceedings as an interested party.
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