pressug.com News 24 7
Related Articles
A simmering domestic and corporate battle has erupted within one of Kenya’s most influential business families, pitting Peter Munga, the founder of Equity Bank Group, against his wife, Rose Njambi Munga, in a Ksh640 million ($5 million, UGX 17.4bn) legal fight over shares in Britam Holdings Plc.
The case, now before the High Court in Nairobi, centers on 75 million Britam shares currently pledged as collateral to ABC Bank. Peter Munga’s wife argues that the shares are matrimonial property, acquired during the couple’s decades-long marriage, and could not lawfully have been charged to the bank without her written consent.
The loan at the center of the feud
Advertisements
Filed on Sept. 9 of this year the petition lists Munga, ABC Bank, ABC Capital and the Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC) as defendants, seeking to block any sale or transfer of the 75 million Britam shares.
Court filings show Equatorial Nut Processors borrowed Ksh882 million ($6.83 million) from ABC Bank between 2022 and 2024 to supply goods to the Education Ministry, the World Food Programme and KEMSA–Global Fund, thus leaving Ksh433.7 million ($3.36 million) unpaid.
To recover the debt, ABC Bank moved to seize the Britam shares, valued at Ksh510 million ($3.95 million), after courts found Munga had lawfully pledged them as collateral.
Wife joins the fight
Njambi who entered the dispute is now seeking a court injunction and recognition of her ownership under Kenya’s Matrimonial Property Act of 2013. She’s offered to deposit Ksh100 million ($774,000) in court but insists her rights come first.
Equity pioneer’s legacy now under pressure
Born in 1943 in Kangema, Peter Munga helped shape Kenya’s modern banking story. He began as a cooperative officer in the 1970s before founding Equity Building Society in 1984 to extend credit to small traders and farmers. That venture became Equity Bank Group, now one of Africa’s largest lenders, serving over 21 million clients across six countries.
After stepping down as chairman in 2018, Munga focused on Equatorial Nut Processors, where he holds a 92 percent stake, and his shares in Britam Holdings. But recent years have brought lawsuits, loan defaults, among others.
This isn’t Munga’s first run-in with the courts. Last year, he failed to stop ABC Bank from auctioning the same shares, and earlier this year, he was drawn into another dispute involving Pioneer International School and a 75-acre lease linked to Del Monte Kenya Ltd.
