AG orders audit of decades-old succession files
Attorney General, Dorcas Oduor Speaking to the press during a media briefing in Nairobi on Friday 26, 2026. Photo/courtesy
Attorney General Dorcas Oduor has ordered a nationwide audit of all files held by the Public Trustee Department, including succession cases that have remained unresolved for years, as part of reforms aimed at improving the administration of estates and restoring public confidence in the institution.
The directive came as the AG launched a four-month task force, officially established through Gazette Notice No. 8767 of June 12, 2026, to spearhead the incorporation and institutional transformation of the Public Trustee Department while reviewing Kenya’s succession framework.
Speaking during the launch at the Office of the Attorney General, AG said every file currently held by the Public Trustee Department at its headquarters and regional offices will be mapped to determine how many cases are pending, how long they have remained unresolved and the reasons behind the delays.
She directed that files capable of being concluded immediately be finalized through a Rapid Results Initiative, saying the exercise will ensure straightforward succession matters are no longer delayed alongside more complex cases.
“Kenyans have come to my office with files that are older than their children. Widows have waited years for distribution that, in a functional system, should have taken months. That is not acceptable, and it will not continue,” she said.
Mrs Oduor said the Public Trustee Department carries one of the country’s most important legal mandates by administering estates of persons who die intestate, managing trusts, protecting the property of minors and safeguarding the assets of persons of unsound mind.
She explained that courts also entrust the department with managing disputed estates and property until the rightful beneficiaries are identified, making professionalism and accountability critical to its operations.
The AG argued that despite the Public Trustee Act establishing the office as a body corporate with powers to own property, enter contracts and sue or be sued, it has continued to operate as a department within the Office of the Attorney General.
“What we have inherited, however, is a structural contradiction. The Public Trustee Department has operated for decades as a department within my office. That arrangement may have facilitated bureaucratic bottlenecks, fragmented accountability and consequently the steady erosion of public trust,” she said.
She said the task force will also examine Kenya’s succession laws, noting that many families continue to experience lengthy delays in the administration of estates even where there are no disputes among beneficiaries.
“The Public Trustee is one of the oldest civil service functions in our country. For more than a century, it has carried a mandate of profound human significance to take charge of estates and trusts when families cannot, to protect the inheritance of orphans and to ensure that property left behind after bereavement is not lost to opportunists, forgotten in drawers or consumed by delay,” she said.
Task Force Chairperson Linda Murila said the reforms reflect the government’s commitment to modernizing public institutions and improving service delivery within the justice sector.
She said the team has been tasked with reviewing the department’s legal, administrative and operational framework, strengthening governance, embracing technology and recommending measures that will create a more responsive and financially sustainable institution.
Murila said the task force will engage government ministries and agencies, the Judiciary, the Law Society of Kenya, professional bodies, civil society organizations and members of the public before presenting practical and implementable recommendations.
The reforms are part of the Office of the Attorney General’s Strategic Transformation Agenda 2024–2027, which seeks to build a people-centred institution through improved access to justice, decentralization of legal services, digital transformation, ethical governance and stronger public engagement.
The latest initiative also builds on reforms introduced in April, when the Office of the Attorney General rolled out Public Trustee services on the eCitizen platform to improve access to services and modernize the administration of estates and trusts as part of the government’s broader digital transformation agenda.
