A tax case has shown that the Kenyatta family made billions of shillings from the Nairobi Expressway project. This happened while Uhuru Kenyatta was president and telling government officials not to do business with the State.
In 2019, during Jamhuri Day celebrations, President Kenyatta said public servants and their families should not make money from government projects. He asked for a new law to stop that from happening.
But at the same time, a company connected to his family was doing business with the Chinese firm that built the expressway.
The Kenyatta Family Expressway Project
The company is called Edge Worth Properties Ltd. In 2021, it gave land to Cale Infrastructure Ltd, the Chinese company building the road. The land was used to get sand for construction and to dump waste.
On paper, the company belonged to Rose Wamaitha Ng’ote. But when the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) started asking tax questions, it was revealed that she was just a nominee. She was holding the company for another firm called Enke Investments Ltd.
Enke Investments is owned by members of the Kenyatta family. This includes Mama Ngina, Muhoho Kenyatta, Margaret Kenyatta, and Uhuru’s children—Jomo and Ngina.
In 2022, Edge Worth paid out Sh1 billion in dividends to Enke Investments. This means the company may have made between Sh1.8 billion and Sh2.8 billion that year alone.
Later, the KRA gave Edge Worth a tax bill of Sh249 million. They said the company had made tax mistakes. Edge Worth went to court and explained that the real owners were the Kenyatta family through Enke Investments. The court agreed and cancelled some of the taxes.
This case also showed that the Kenyatta family uses companies and trusts like Ropat Trust and Goodison Trust to hide ownership. These trusts have appeared in other family businesses too.
Even though Uhuru said families of public servants should not benefit from government deals, his own family was doing exactly that.
Now, as Kenya waits for the new Conflict of Interest Law to be signed, this case raises serious questions: Will the new law stop powerful families from making money from public projects? And can government and business really be kept apart?
By Vivian K.