Since independence, the Kenyatta family has been ranked among the wealthiest families in Africa-all thanks to the Kenya’s founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta where the the family’s wealth including massive land holdings grew significantly.
His widow, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, is credited with overseeing the family’s diversification into various sectors with the family having its foot in sectors including financial services, dairy processing, hospitality, real estate, media among others.
The leak of the ‘Pandora Papers’ in 2021 also exposed several offshore assets owned by members of the family, including one company with $30 million in stocks and bonds.
1. NCBA Group
The Kenyatta family holds a 13.2% stake in NCBA Group, Kenya’s third-largest bank by asset value. For the year ended December 2021, the family received a dividend pay out of Ksh625.5 million – the highest dividend payout among the bank’s shareholders.
NCBA was established in 2018 following the merger of NIC Bank and Commercial Bank of Africa, with the Kenyatta family having held stakes in the latter. The merger was completed though a share swap, with NIC group shareholders owning 47 % of the merged entity and CBA shareholders including the Kenyatta family owning 53 percent of the merged entity.
The 2019 exemption of NIC and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) from share sale tax by the National Treasury following their merger has returned to haunt former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his family. The merger deal did not quote the value of CBA shares, but analysts placed the value of the 53 per cent stake at Ksh35 billion based on the book value of Ksh65 billion at the time the deal was announced—putting the stamp duty charge north of Ksh350 million.
2. Brookside Dairy Limited
Brookside Dairy Limited is the largest processor of dairy products in Kenya, with revenues in the billions of shillings. As of 2019, it had a 45% market share according to the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB). Its closest competitor, government-owned New KCC, was a distant second with 25%.
French food processor Danone in 2014 bought a 40 per cent stake in Brookside , hence the Kenyatta family retaining a controlling stake. The transaction offered a glimpse into Brookside’s books, as it disclosed the company generated Ksh15.4 billion in sales in the previous year, dwarfing many NSE-listed firms.
3. Mediamax
Mediamax is one of Kenya’s largest media companies. Its assets include K24, The People’s Daily and Kameme FM. The Kenyatta family acquired the company from K24 founder Rose Kimotho, whose company defaulted on a bank loan.
4. Heritage Group
The Kenyatta family has also invested heavily in hospitality through the Heritage Group of Hotels, a chain of high end hotels in Kenya. Their properties include Voyager camp and beach resort in Tsavo and Mombasa, Kipungani Explorer on Lamu island, Intrepids camps in Samburu and the Maasai Mara, Golf Hotel in Naivasha, The Great Rift Valley Lodge and Mara Explorer camp.
5. Offshore Accounts
The leak of the Pandora Papers in 2021 as part of a global investigation offered a glimpse into the Kenyattas’ offshore investments. Among them was a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (Ksh4.5 billion). The family had established foundations and corporations in Panama, known for its ability to conceal the ownership of funds and assets.
One of the Kenyatta companies bought an apartment in central London valued at around $1.3 million, according to filings at the UK Land Registry. The prime property was until recently rented by British MP Emma Ann Hardy.
Hardy’s spokesperson stated at the time that she had “absolutely no knowledge” of who owned the property.
6. Land holdings
The exact size of the Kenyattas’ land holdings is unknown, but the family has vast tracts in several different parts of the country. Before leaving office, former President Uhuru Kenyatta acquired a 1,000 acre ranch in Oloolmongi, Lolgorian district in Trans Mara, Narok.
The ranch overlooks the Mara triangle – a wildlife-rich area managed by the non-profit organization The Mara Conservancy. It is typically less visited and crowded compared to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, and is one of the prime viewing locations for the Great Wildebeest Migration.
The CIA report
A declassified CIA report made public six years ago also revealed some of the family’s land holdings at the time of Jomo Kenyatta’s passing in 1978.
“(Jomo) Kenyatta himself owned only about a half-dozen properties covering roughly 4,000 hectares, mainly farms in the Rift Valley and in the district of Kiambu where he was born. His wife, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, however, owns at least 115,000 hectares including a 13,000 hectare ranch in the Kiambu district, two tea plantations at Matu and Mangu, and three sisal farms near the Tanzanian border.” it read in part.
How rich is Kenyatta family? Your guess is as good as mine! Will they pay tax as Kenya Kwanza admnistration is pushing the former first family? Will NCBA pay the 350 Million taxi waiver of which its Managing Director John Gachora termed a ‘drop in the ocean?’Will tax push storm calm down with the entry of Jubilee in the goverment? Then is tax push political as Mama Ngina termed the move ‘ a witch-hunt?’ Time will tell.
Also read Eswatini Last Absolute Monarch
