The Kenyatta family ranks among the wealthiest people in Kenya, controlling interests in various sectors of the economy. The first family has interests in finance, agriculture, real estate, land, hospitality, media, among others.
According to various media reports, the family owns about 500,000 acres of land in Kenya, making them the largest landowners in the country.
In October 2021, BBC in collaboration with a number of scribes under the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released a report dubbed Pandora Papers, which exposed assets stashed by world leaders abroad. The report included assets owned by the Kenyatta family.
The expose revealed that the Kenyatta family owns a Ksh152 million house in the UK. The luxurious house is owned by a company called Milrun International Limited.
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According to a report by BBC, the said company was established by former first lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta and her two daughters, Kristina and Anna in 1999.
Alcogal provided a registered office for Milrun on the largest of the BVI islands, Tortola, and supplied staff members to act as the company’s official directors. This birthed an entirely anonymous company that could not be traced back to the Kenyatta family.
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This company was allegedly used by Mama Ngina and her daughters to purchase the apartment which is in central London, which it still owns, according to filings at the UK Land Registry seen by Finance Uncovered.
The prime property, which was until recently rented by British Labour MP Emma Ann Hardy, is now estimated to be worth close to $1.3m (approximately Ksh152 million).
Mrs Hardy is said to have occupied the apartment when away from her constituency on parliamentary business and paid a sum of Ksh395,000 (£2,600) per month as rent.
The lawmaker explained that she was not aware of the apartment’s questionable management, prior to signing the lease.
“Emma had absolutely no knowledge of this. She signed a standard tenancy agreement through a reliable agency approved by the independent organisation that administers MPs’ accommodation costs.
“She is shocked at what this investigation has uncovered, and believes it shows why more transparency is urgently needed,” a statement from her representative said.
Hardy was elected as Labour MP representing Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle area in 2017 before subsequent re-election in 2019. Besides her legislation roles, she served as the Shadow Minister for Further Education and Universities between 2020 and 2021.
The Pandora Papers, which is considered the biggest such leak in history, linked President Kenyatta and six members of his family to 13 offshore companies.
According to BBC, the Kenyattas’ offshore investments, including a company with stocks and bonds worth $30m (£22m), were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens.
The assets were uncovered by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Finance Uncovered, Finance Uncovered, John-Allan Namu-led Africa Uncensored and other news organisations.
Documents show that a foundation called Varies was set up in 2003 in Panama, with Mama Ngina as the first benefactor and Uhuru as the second benefactor, who would inherit it after her death. According to the expose, the purpose of the foundation and the value of its assets are unknown.
