Sam Mburu is a Nakuru based businessman who has heavily invested in the real estate sector. He is a close ally of president William Ruto and played a critical role in URP’s 2013 campaigns. According to media reports, he bankrolled Susan Kihika’s campaigns in the 2017 elections.
The two met during the 2013 general election after the newly elected governor returned to the country after a 20-year stay in the United States. They hit it off immediately and in November 2020 they tied the knot.
The couple got married in an African themed traditional wedding in Laikipia. The glitzy ceremony was attended by some of the top politicians including the president William Ruto, Hon. Aisha Jumwa and MP Oscar Sudi.
Kihika, who is 48 years old, is 10 years older than Mburu.
Business Interests
Mburu is a director of Landmark Freight services which is based in Mombasa and has two branches in China. The company reportedly makes Sh10 million in monthly revenues.
He is also into the rental business and has several properties strewn across different locations. He was raised in Solai, Nakuru where his parents had a charcoal burning business.
The businessman himself is also said to have started off from humble beginnings working as a soft drinks distributor in Nakuru.
According to his ex-wife, Sam Mburu has 62 flats in Kitengela, six luxury cars, 43 rental flats in Embakasi’s Airport North road, and 15 rental houses in Nakuru.
Separation from Beatrice Wanjiku
Mburu separated from his wife Beatrice Wanjiku and subsequently moved in with Susan Kihika. He had been married to his ex-wife since 2003 and they had been blessed with two children.
Mbura filed a petition to have custody of the children but his wife Beatrice also petitioned the court to award her custody and Sh757,000 as monthly maintenance for two years. In her affidavit, she said that Susan mistreated the kids and Mbuua was never present when the kids were with him.
“The children have complained to me about the applicant’s wife who hates the children, orders them away from her and violently swears at them that she never wants to see them again. When the stepmother is asked why she behaves that way, she says the children are ‘grumpy’ and call her grandy on account of her advanced age,” stated Wanjiku’s affidavit.
She went on to say the plaintiff, Sam Mburu, was a wealthy man who had set a standard for their family with their family house in Kilimani costing Sh757,000 monthly.
The suit was filed by Morris Njage and company Advocates on her behalf and she added that her ex-husband owned: 62 flats in Kitengela, six luxury cars, 43 rental flats in Embakasi’s Airport North road, and 15 rental houses in Nakuru.
According to Mburu’s ex-wife, she immensely contributed to their wealth:
“I have been part and parcel of my husband’s wealth. Until the year 2010, I had a steady job as a personal assistant to the managing director of the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries and taking home a package of Sh130,000. My husband persuaded me to leave my job and run the business of selling electrical goods in a shop along River Road.
“Because the plaintiff intends to leave me and the children permanently, it is in the best interests of justice that he makes immediate provisions for the family’s upkeep and pay a lump sum to secure the children’s upkeep for the next two years”, she stated.
Mburu’s affidavit on the other hand stated that it was also his wife’s duty to take care of the children. He said that he only earned Sh500,000 monthly which fluctuates depending on the business.
He said that he spent Sh50,000 only on himself with the rest of the money going to other things including loans. He said he was able to provide a monthly allowance if Sh136,000.
The court awarded Sh597,000 monthly maintenance including Sh140,000 for food and joint custody of the children
Tax Evasion Allegations
In 2019, the businessman was on the receiving end of the DCI after he was accused of evading taxes amounting to Sh64 million.
Together with some officials of the Kenya Bureau of Standards, he was accused of colluding with three companies to undervalue goods imported from Dubai.
Senior counsel Tom Ojienda was also arrested and according to The Standard a close ally of Mburu revealed that 6 of his cars were also locked up in the station.
The two companies called Gendipe Enterprises and Rupai Trading Limited reportedly concealed imported goods so as to evade tax with the help of Landmark, customs and officials from KeBS. The companies imported goods and said they were machinery but it was later revealed that it was cooking oil.
