A fierce courtroom battle has erupted between Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko, and Lawyer Lucy Momanyi, in a defamation suit that has pulled back the curtain on disputed wills, multi-million-shilling estate wrangles, and sensational allegations of misconduct aired live on national television.
At the center of the case before the Milimani High Court is a simple but tricky question. Was Sonko’s fiery television rant protected speech, or was it a calculated act of defamation meant to destroy a lawyer’s career?
The suit stems from Sonko’s appearance on KTN’s “Morning Express” on April 1, 2014, where he launched into a fierce verbal attack against Momanyi, then serving as co-administrator of the estate of the late James Simon Bellhouse.
“I’m calling Lucy Momanyi a thief! She’s a lawyer but a thief! And I have evidence to prove it,” Sonko declared during the broadcast, as quoted in the court pleadings. “Let her sue Sonko! She’s a thief, a crook, and she should be charged very soon.”
Momanyi, represented by Soita & Saende Advocates, says those remarks were not only reckless but they were also ruinous. Her lawsuit contends that Sonko’s statements painted her as “fraudulent,” “dishonest,” and “unfit to practice law,” damaging her reputation and professional standing.
She is seeking a permanent injunction against further defamatory comments, along with general and exemplary damages for what she terms “monumental distress and professional loss.”
In his defense, filed through Mbichire & Co. Advocates, Sonko denies making the remarks attributed to him. Alternatively, he argued that if any statements were indeed made, they were in the public interest, asserting his right to respond to questions raised about his conduct by the plaintiff. His lawyers claim the comments were neither malicious nor defamatory but a fair response to issues of legitimate concern.
The origins of the feud trace back to the estate of James Simon Bellhouse, a wealthy businessman who died in 2009, leaving behind a fortune estimated at hundreds of millions.
A deep rift emerged between Momanyi and Joy Nadzua Bellhouse, the widow, after two conflicting wills surfaced. The first, drafted by Momanyi’s firm, named her as co-executor alongside the widow. A second, simpler will appointed Joy as sole executor, igniting a bitter power struggle over control of the estate.
Joy accused Momanyi of inserting herself as a beneficiary and obstructing her access to key assets. Complaints were filed with both the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Mombasa Law Society, while a police report at Diani Police Station claimed that Momanyi had even threatened the widow’s life.
Correspondence filed in court shows Joy crediting Sonko for his intervention, further collaborating Sonko’s remarks during The Morning Express show, where he stated that the widow had reached out for assistance.
In one letter dated June 2014, she wrote, “His [Sonko’s] assistance has greatly boosted my chances of recovering all the assets.” That letter now stands as evidence linking the senator’s public remarks to the widow’s private grievances.
In her response, Momanyi paints a very different picture. She insists she acted professionally and transparently throughout her handling of the estate. Upon the client’s death, she says, Joy informed her that much of the estate’s property had already been sold to settle hospital bills, and that Joy herself had been a signatory to the deceased’s bank account.
Momanyi maintains that she took steps to safeguard the estate, including writing to financial institutions to protect the assets and recovering KSh 75,000 in dividends from a defunct bank.A sum she claims was fully remitted to the widow. She further alleges that Sonko confronted her at the Mombasa Law Courts in 2012 and later made threatening phone calls, one of which she reported to police on February 28, 2014.
The High Court must now untangle conflicting affidavits, disputed wills, and competing police statements to determine who is telling the truth.
The matter will proceed for hearing at the Milimani Law Courts, where both parties are expected to present witnesses.
