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Elder Lister
From Extortionist Politicians, To Shylocks And Sidekicks: How Late Billionaire Francis Mburu Ended Up Broke
The late billionaire Francis Mburu had it all-or so it seemed-before a string of bad decisions, extortionist politicians and hanger-ons brought him down. The Standard newspaper, in an article titled Broke billionaire: Francis Mburu milked by politicians, shylocks and sidekicks, gave a blow by blow account of how the billionaire ended up broke.
Here is his story of the billionaire who now lives hand to mouth as told by WoK.
Who was Francis Mburu?
Billionaire Francis Mburu was a renowned Nairobi businessman who heavily invested in real estate. Before his death at 76 year old, he was said to live a private but flamboyant lifestyle. He owned around 50 companies.
Before the Ruaraka land saga, which he was heavily involved in court battles, very few Kenyans could pick him from a crowd of three.
How he acquired his wealth and journey
Most of Mburu’s fortunes came from the 96 acre piece of land he bought in December 30th 1981 from Israeli owned Joreth Limited when he was just 31 years old.
Through his companies – Huelands Limited, Import Limited and Afrison Export, he paid Ksh 14 million for the Ruaraka land.
He later used the title deed of the land to get a Ksh 21 million loan from Continental Credit Finance in order to build 600 houses for the now defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunication (KPTC).
Unfortunately Continental Credit Finance Collapsed and was put under receivership, this made KPTC secure a second mortgage worth Ksh 165 million using the title deed in order to complete the houses. The project didn’t come to completion with only 196 houses being built out of the 600 estimated houses.
The houses were taken by the General Service Unit (GSU) who then grabbed 30 acres of the same piece of land. 30 years later, Mburu went to court and was awarded Ksh 9.8 billion for the land and Ksh 1.5 billion as the case costs.
Mburu didn’t stop there, in 2018 through his lawyer Apollo Mboya, he went to court to claim a Ksh 10 billion land known as Chakama ranch situated in Kilifi County.
Through his company New Agricultural Limited, the billionaire claimed that he owned the land L.R No. 13472/3/4 that is currently occupied by Squatters.
From being a billionaire to Poverty
In a report released by The Nairobian in 2020, billionaire Mburu’s aides revealed that he was struggling to pay Ksh 500,000 monthly rent for his house situated in Karen Nairobi. All the GSU officers who used to man his home and were his bodyguards left since he could not afford to pay for their services.
“The only employee left is his long serving driver. The man has lately been living hand to mouth and all his business associates, including politicians, no longer pick his calls. Things are so bad that he is even thinking of going to live with his sons,” revealed a close friend as reported by The Standard.
But where and how did the billions disappear?
The tabloid contacted Mburu to give his side of the story but he declined to comment on the issue. An aide who worked for him for years revealed that his financial doldrums were as a result of living an extravagant lifestyle and politicians keen to extort as much as they could from him.
“Mburu doesn’t gamble. The last time he gambled was 1996. It is just living a soft life. It’s sad to see the old man suffer. He had a good heart but spent all his money on people,” a confidante told the Nairobian.
The man used not to drink alcohol but would cater for bills amounting up to Ksh 250,000 per night for his friends, many of them politicians and business associates. He would play pool with each game pegged at Ksh 50,000 and he would lose about 20 games in a single night.
Mburu would give out Ksh 5 million to his friends with the ease of dishing out coins to a street beggar.
The aide revealed that even before Mburu secured the Ruaraka land billions, he had promised so many people money.
The late billionaire Francis Mburu had it all-or so it seemed-before a string of bad decisions, extortionist politicians and hanger-ons brought him down. The Standard newspaper, in an article titled Broke billionaire: Francis Mburu milked by politicians, shylocks and sidekicks, gave a blow by blow account of how the billionaire ended up broke.
Here is his story of the billionaire who now lives hand to mouth as told by WoK.
Who was Francis Mburu?
Billionaire Francis Mburu was a renowned Nairobi businessman who heavily invested in real estate. Before his death at 76 year old, he was said to live a private but flamboyant lifestyle. He owned around 50 companies.
Before the Ruaraka land saga, which he was heavily involved in court battles, very few Kenyans could pick him from a crowd of three.
How he acquired his wealth and journey
Most of Mburu’s fortunes came from the 96 acre piece of land he bought in December 30th 1981 from Israeli owned Joreth Limited when he was just 31 years old.
Through his companies – Huelands Limited, Import Limited and Afrison Export, he paid Ksh 14 million for the Ruaraka land.
He later used the title deed of the land to get a Ksh 21 million loan from Continental Credit Finance in order to build 600 houses for the now defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunication (KPTC).
Unfortunately Continental Credit Finance Collapsed and was put under receivership, this made KPTC secure a second mortgage worth Ksh 165 million using the title deed in order to complete the houses. The project didn’t come to completion with only 196 houses being built out of the 600 estimated houses.
The houses were taken by the General Service Unit (GSU) who then grabbed 30 acres of the same piece of land. 30 years later, Mburu went to court and was awarded Ksh 9.8 billion for the land and Ksh 1.5 billion as the case costs.
Mburu didn’t stop there, in 2018 through his lawyer Apollo Mboya, he went to court to claim a Ksh 10 billion land known as Chakama ranch situated in Kilifi County.
Through his company New Agricultural Limited, the billionaire claimed that he owned the land L.R No. 13472/3/4 that is currently occupied by Squatters.
From being a billionaire to Poverty
In a report released by The Nairobian in 2020, billionaire Mburu’s aides revealed that he was struggling to pay Ksh 500,000 monthly rent for his house situated in Karen Nairobi. All the GSU officers who used to man his home and were his bodyguards left since he could not afford to pay for their services.
“The only employee left is his long serving driver. The man has lately been living hand to mouth and all his business associates, including politicians, no longer pick his calls. Things are so bad that he is even thinking of going to live with his sons,” revealed a close friend as reported by The Standard.
But where and how did the billions disappear?
The tabloid contacted Mburu to give his side of the story but he declined to comment on the issue. An aide who worked for him for years revealed that his financial doldrums were as a result of living an extravagant lifestyle and politicians keen to extort as much as they could from him.
“Mburu doesn’t gamble. The last time he gambled was 1996. It is just living a soft life. It’s sad to see the old man suffer. He had a good heart but spent all his money on people,” a confidante told the Nairobian.
The man used not to drink alcohol but would cater for bills amounting up to Ksh 250,000 per night for his friends, many of them politicians and business associates. He would play pool with each game pegged at Ksh 50,000 and he would lose about 20 games in a single night.
Mburu would give out Ksh 5 million to his friends with the ease of dishing out coins to a street beggar.
The aide revealed that even before Mburu secured the Ruaraka land billions, he had promised so many people money.