A bitter 14-year court battle over a prime six-acre Karen property bordering the Ngong Forest has placed Nairobi politician and businesswoman Agnes Kagure at the centre of what court records, judicial rulings and witness testimony increasingly describe as a sophisticated land grabbing scheme targeting vulnerable estates.
The dispute revolves around property belonging to the late Roger Bryan Robson, a wealthy British national who died in Nairobi on August 8, 2012. Robson, who had no children, left behind a legally executed will directing that his Karen land and Upper Hill apartments be sold after his death, with the proceeds benefiting his nephew, conservation agencies including the Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service, and an educational charity.
But more than a decade after his death, the estate remains trapped in a maze of litigation, criminal proceedings and contested ownership claims driven by Kagure’s insistence that she legitimately bought the Karen land from Robson in 2011 for Sh100 million.
Court findings, however, have repeatedly cast doubt on her claim.
The latest twist emerged in May 2026 when Kagure’s lawyer, Conrad Maloba, attempted to challenge the legitimacy of the estate by arguing that some succession documents and title certifications linked to Robson’s will had not been fully regularised under Kenyan law.
The strategy has stunned legal observers because multiple courts have already upheld the authenticity of Robson’s will while simultaneously questioning the credibility of Kagure’s alleged purchase documents.
At the heart of the controversy is veteran lawyer Guy Spencer Elms, the executor appointed by Robson in a will signed in 1997. Elms has spent nearly a decade defending himself against criminal forgery charges linked to the same will, despite later court rulings validating it as genuine.
Justice Hillary Chemitei, in a detailed judgment delivered in June 2025, ruled that Robson’s will was lawfully executed, properly witnessed and showed no evidence of coercion or fraud.
The court also found no evidence that Robson sold the Karen land to Kagure.
Witnesses close to the deceased painted a picture of a frail man in declining health during his final years. Lawyer David Michuki, who represented Robson in separate legal matters before his death, testified that signatures appearing on Kagure’s alleged sale documents did not resemble Robson’s known signature.
He also told the court the photograph attached to one of the documents was not even that of the deceased Briton.
Robson’s brother, Michael Fairfax Robson, testified from the United Kingdom that his brother never mentioned selling the Karen property and remained in possession of the land until his death.
Despite claiming to have paid Sh100 million for the property, Kagure has never produced bank records, transfer slips, valuation reports or stamp duty evidence proving the money changed hands.
Court proceedings further revealed the Karen property remained under a bank charge during the alleged transaction period, raising additional questions about whether a valid transfer could legally occur without the lender’s involvement.
Yet even as the ownership dispute intensified in court, the battle on the ground turned dramatic.
In 2015, Elms told the High Court that Kagure hired men who arrived at the Karen property accompanied by police officers and evicted the estate’s caretaker before fencing off the land.
Justice Mary Gitumbi issued orders barring Kagure and her agents from trespassing or interfering with the property, but construction reportedly continued.
When Elms later attempted to access the land, he allegedly found it occupied and guarded by individuals preventing entry.
Another judge, Justice Lucy Njuguna, made explosive observations in subsequent proceedings, stating that police officers appeared to be aiding fraudsters attempting to dispossess the executor of the land.
Despite the findings, no criminal charges were brought against Kagure over the alleged invasion and no disciplinary action was publicly taken against officers mentioned in court.
The Karen case is not the only disputed property linked to Kagure.
In Makadara, a widow named Ruth Wambui Kimani sued Kagure after discovering that land belonging to her late husband had allegedly been transferred years after his death.
Court records showed the property transfer was registered in 2015, yet the husband’s death certificate indicated he died in 2010.
In another Eastlands property dispute, the Environment and Land Court ruled that Kagure acquired land using illegal and unlawful documents and permanently barred her from occupying or claiming the property.
The growing list of disputes has fueled accusations that powerful syndicates are exploiting loopholes within Kenya’s land and succession systems to target estates belonging to foreigners, elderly owners and deceased persons whose families are either absent or entangled in lengthy probate battles.
Land lawyers familiar with the cases say the scheme often follows a familiar pattern.
First, vulnerable properties are identified. Then questionable sale agreements and transfer documents emerge, often dated shortly before the owner’s death. Once a disputed title is registered, physical occupation follows, sometimes backed by police presence. The final stage involves years of legal attrition aimed at exhausting legitimate heirs and executors.
The Robson estate appears to fit that template almost perfectly.
What has especially alarmed legal observers is that Kagure’s latest strategy now hinges not on proving she purchased the land, but on exploiting procedural gaps within the estate’s succession paperwork.
Her legal team argues that technical certification flaws could invalidate the executor’s standing entirely.
Critics say the argument amounts to weaponising bureaucracy after years of failed attempts to prove ownership substantively.
“The irony is extraordinary,” said one Nairobi-based property lawyer familiar with the proceedings. “The estate’s documents have already been validated by the High Court, while the alleged purchase documents continue to face allegations of forgery and lack any payment trail.”
The criminal case against Elms remains active despite the High Court validating the will he was accused of forging.
In January 2026, the High Court declined to terminate the prosecution entirely, meaning Elms still faces charges linked to a document courts have already declared genuine.
For many observers, the case has become a symbol of the deeper dysfunction within Kenya’s land administration and succession systems.
Kagure, meanwhile, has consistently dismissed allegations against her as politically motivated attacks tied to her gubernatorial ambitions and growing public profile.
The former Nairobi gubernatorial candidate has cultivated an image as a philanthropist, youth mentor and women’s empowerment advocate ahead of the 2027 elections.
But court records increasingly tell another story.
One involving disputed signatures, questionable land transfers, police-assisted occupations and a years-long battle over property intended for wildlife conservation and charity.
The Karen case resumes in October 2026.
Its outcome could determine not only the fate of one of Nairobi’s most valuable estates, but also whether Kenya’s courts will allow procedural technicalities to override substantive findings already made about the legitimacy of a dead man’s final wishes.
For now, Robson’s six acres bordering the Ngong Forest remain locked in litigation instead of benefiting the conservation bodies and charities he named in his will more than two decades ago.
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