The Environment and Land Court has ordered a fresh assessment of a Sh3.37 billion bill submitted by three law firms to the estate of the late former Starehe MP Gerishon Kamau Kirima.
In a ruling delivered in late October 2026, the court set aside a Sh37.3 million award after finding errors in the original assessment. Justice Charles Mbogo ruled that the taxation of the bill by Deputy Registrar Judith Omollo could not stand because she had recorded the size of two disputed parcels of land incorrectly and appeared to have deducted Sh12 million twice.
He directed that another taxing officer assess the bill afresh. S. Musalia Mwenesi Advocates, Nyamu & Nyamu Co. Advocates and P.C. Onduso & Co. Advocates are jointly seeking the money for their work in six consolidated cases involving more than 970 acres of land in Nairobi.
The firms went to court after the taxing officer awarded them Sh37.3 million against their Sh3.37 billion claim. They argued that she had ignored the size and value of the properties and the amount of work they had done.
Justice Mbogo agreed that the acreage had been wrongly recorded. The 2023 judgment in the land cases listed the parcels as measuring 471 and 499 acres, but the taxing officer had recorded them as 80 and 160 acres.
“Indeed, the taxing officer made an error in recognizing the size of both properties,” the judge said.
However, he said it was not clear whether the mistake had affected the fees awarded.
“While she noted that there was no doubt that the properties were of high value, I cannot state with certainty that she used the acreage to assess instruction fees. Perhaps, if she had taken note of the correct size of both properties, a different sum would have been used to exercise her discretion to assess the instruction fees,” he said.
He also found that the Sh12 million already paid to the firms appeared to have been deducted twice.
The judge, however, upheld the taxing officer’s decision not to base the lawyers’ instruction fees on the disputed values of the land.
“I agree with the taxing officer that the value of the subject matter could not be ascertained from the pleadings or the judgment. I am satisfied that the taxing officer appreciated the applicable principles and exercised her discretion upon finding that the value was not ascertainable from the pleadings and judgment,” Justice Mbogo said.
The estate, through its administrators Anne Wangari Kirima and Stephen Kamau Kirima, opposed the application. They argued that the award was reasonable, that each firm had already been paid Sh7 million in instruction fees, and that the Sh12 million payment had been properly accounted for.
They also said the firms had been hired by Teresia Wairimu Kirima, a former administrator of the estate. In November 2025, however, the court dismissed the estate’s bid to strike out the bill, ruling that a retainer existed even without a written agreement.
The land cases involved parcels LR No. 5908/8 and LR No. 6825/2, measuring 499 and 471 acres, respectively, which were registered in the names of Kirima and his son, John Gerishon Kirima.
In a judgment delivered on October 23, 2023, the court consolidated six suits filed between 2011 and 2014. In them, claimants sought parts of the land through alleged allocations, adverse possession and purchases.
Among them were 300 people who claimed 80 acres of LR No. 6825/2 by adverse possession, and the 1,310-member Kamatuto Self-Help Group, which claimed 160 acres of LR No. 5908/8. The Naridai Muoroto Self-Help Group also laid claim to part of that parcel.
The court dismissed the adverse possession claims, saying the claimants had not proved the required occupation, but ordered the administrators to complete some sales to buyers. A related case was struck out in April 2024.
This is not the first fees dispute over the estate. Three years ago, Rachier & Amollo Advocates LLP sought Sh666.3 million for its work in the family succession case.
The bill was taxed down to Sh84 million, and the firm challenged the award, saying the estate had been undervalued. In January 2026, the High Court ordered a fresh assessment, finding that the taxing officer had not clearly explained why particular asset values were chosen over others.
A February 2025 succession judgment revoked the grant previously issued to Teresia Kirima, appointed new administrators, identified 15 beneficiaries, and directed the administrators to account for liabilities and prepare a proposal for sharing the estate.
Kirima died on December 21, 2010, aged 88. A carpenter who became one of Nairobi’s leading property investors, he served as a Nairobi City Council councillor and deputy mayor before becoming Starehe MP and an assistant minister in President Daniel arap Moi’s government in the 1980s and 1990s.
He built a multi-billion-shilling empire in real estate, rental property, butcheries and an abattoir. He left behind more than 40 properties in Nairobi, Kiambu, Murang’a and Kajiado, shares in 11 listed and private companies, 19 vehicles, machinery and cash in the bank.
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