Joshua Kulei, a former personal secretary of late former president Mzee Daniel Arap Moi is arguably among the wealthiest people in the country.
According to a report by Daily Nation in 2017, Kulei served as the former head of state's private personal secretary and was also responsible for his financial dealings.
In 2003, President Mwai Kibaki contracted a private British investigation and security firm, Kroll and Associates, and tasked it with tracing and reporting what was alleged as over Ksh309 billion stashed abroad by his predecessor and his closest associates.
The company brought to light the extent of Moi's financial dealings along with that of his associates.
It revealed that Kulei represented Moi in over fifty companies cutting across all sectors of the economy, both locally and internationally.
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According to the report, he held major interests in London-based investments, which included a palatial residence in upmarket London, from which his children attended school. Further sources alleged that Kulei had two properties in Surrey, the larger of which were owned by Moi.
Kulei reportedly used banks in Luxembourg for ex-president Moi's confidential banking.
It is believed that he and Moi acquired companies jointly, some of which Kulei used his family name to mask the identity of ownership. For instance, the duo acquired Sian flowers on a 60:40 basis. Sian was derived from Kulei's family name, Chemusian.
According to the Kroll report, Moi and Kulei co-owned Ngata Flower Farms in Nakuru on a 50:50 basis. The document also stated that Kulei and the president's son, Gideon, each owned 12.5 per cent of Siginon Freight, a transport company, while Kabarak High School owned 75 percent.
The report, however, stated that Kulei relinquished most of the property he held on behalf of the former president just before the KANU government was replaced in December 2002.
It was at this point that he ran into trouble with Moi’s sons, Philip and Gideon, who believed that Kulei had conned their father.
“Gideon kept convincing his father that Kulei may have more money than him as a result of using the ex-president’s name,” the Kroll report read.
In 2012, Daily Nation reported that Kulei was the subject of a court battle that pitted him against Moi and Biwott, over a piece of land in Nairobi that was reportedly worth billions. The two claimed that Kulei, through a company called Belgo Holdings, was holding the land in trust for Moi, accusations the former Moi aide denied.
Companies
Kulei owns Sovereign Group and leads the company's board with his experience spanning over fifty years in investments and business management.
He is one of the leading investors and employers in Kenya, with over five thousand employees within the Group Subsidiaries and its associates. His business portfolio is diverse both geographically and sectorial spanning over eight sectors of the economy.
He serves as Chair of the Board for several businesses within the Group. He also holds membership in the Institute of Purchasing and Supplies and is a member of the Geographical Society of Kenya.
Sovereign Group boasts investments cutting across various sectors of the economy including; Agribusiness, Real Estate, hospitality and tourism, ICT and technology, mining and manufacturing, transport and logistics, and security.
Others include; insurance, communications and media, trading, and education.
Some of the companies associated with Sovereign Group include; Siginon Group, Regent Group, SPC properties, Regional Logistics Centre, Kenya Agrotech, Standard Media Group, Sian Roses, C Tea, Maasai Ostrich Resort, Kenya Bixo Resort, Adil, and Quality Quarries.
Others include; Nine One One Group, Merica Hotel, Crater Lake Sanctuary, Mobile World (K) Ltd, Liaison, Fidelity Insurance, and Sunshine Secondary School.
In 2018, Business Daily reported that Sovereign Group acquired a 33.8 percent government-owned stake in the 5-star InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi.
Tenders
On Monday, November 1, 2021, it emerged that Sovereign Group along with a company owned by the family of late former Cabinet Minister Simeon Nyachae was awarded a multi-billion construction tender for 1,562 housing units at Pangani under President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four Agenda.
Under the PPP project, City Hall will provide land, while the companies will construct the houses which will later be sold to members of the public.
The 1,562 housing units will be constructed in a 4.8-acre piece of land.
According to Nation, Sovereign Group Limited, Lalong with two other companies were first awarded the Ksh6.5 billion construction tenders in 2016, during the reign of former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero.
The project was later absorbed into the Big Four Agenda a year after Kidero was ousted as governor.
According to the contract, the three companies will spend Ksh6.5 billion to construct the low-cost houses, which will be sold to Kenyans on a first-come, first-serve priority and at affordable prices.
Details of the companies and their involvement in the project emerged after law firm Robson Harris & Company Advocates, filed a lawsuit seeking compensation of Ksh66 million for consultancy done for the Pangani project from the three companies.
