Attorney General Launches Taskforce to Overhaul Public Trustee Department, End Years of Delays.

Attorney General Launches Taskforce to Overhaul Public Trustee Department, End Years of Delays.

From left: Public Trustee Taskforce Chairperson Linda Murila and Attorney General Dorcas Oduor address the media in Nairobi after launching a four-month taskforce to transform the Public Trustee Department, clear longstanding case backlogs and strengthen protection of estates, trusts and vulnerable beneficiaries.

By Jeff Oyugi 

Nairobi - June 26, 2026

The government has launched a four-month taskforce to spearhead sweeping reforms of Kenya's Public Trustee Department, with Attorney General Dorcas Oduor promising to eliminate years of administrative delays, strengthen accountability and transform the institution into an autonomous corporate body capable of protecting the estates of deceased persons, minors and other vulnerable beneficiaries.

Speaking during the launch of the Taskforce on the Incorporation and Institutional Transformation of the Public Trustee Department, Oduor said the reforms mark a decisive turning point in restoring public confidence in an institution entrusted with safeguarding some of the country's most sensitive legal and financial responsibilities.

She said the Public Trustee plays a critical role in managing the estates of people who die intestate, protecting property belonging to minors until they attain the age of 18, administering the assets of persons of unsound mind and overseeing property placed under its care by the courts.

"If somebody dies intestate leaving behind a child who is only a few months old, the Public Trustee is mandated to preserve that child's inheritance until adulthood. That is an enormous responsibility," Oduor said.

She added that the institution is also responsible for managing the property of persons who are mentally incapacitated and therefore unable to supervise how their assets are administered, making professionalism, transparency and integrity essential.

The Attorney General noted that courts also entrust the Public Trustee with complex and high-value assets, citing a recent land dispute involving approximately 50 acres in Karen where the court directed the Public Trustee to hold and manage the property while tracing the rightful beneficiaries after determining that none of the litigants before the court had legitimate ownership.

She said similar responsibilities also extend to estates belonging to foreigners who die without identifiable beneficiaries, underscoring the importance of having a credible institution capable of administering such assets.

Despite these significant responsibilities, Oduor observed that the Public Trustee Department has for decades operated as an ordinary department within the Office of the Attorney General, contrary to the intention of the Public Trustee Act.

She said Section 5 of the Act establishes the Public Trustee as a body corporate with perpetual succession, capable of suing and being sued, owning property and entering into contracts in its own name.

However, successive governments had maintained the institution as a departmental unit, creating bureaucratic bottlenecks, fragmented accountability and declining public confidence.

"Kenyans have come to my office with files that are older than their children. Widows have waited years for distributions that in a functional system should have taken only months. That is unacceptable and it will not continue," she said.

The Attorney General said the reforms are being undertaken under Gazette Notice No. 8767 of June 12, 2026, which formally established the taskforce to guide the incorporation and institutional transformation of the department.

The team is chaired by Linda Murila and includes Rose Mbanya, SC, Ivan Obote, Peter Kimaile, Nilfat Kassim Ali, Dr Elijah Ambasa, Areba Omwoyo Samba, Dr Florence Muinde and Dr Rebecca Lomong, while Naaman Gedda and Mohamed Shuriye will serve as joint secretaries.

Oduor said members were selected from diverse professional backgrounds including finance, succession law, human resource management and information communication technology to ensure comprehensive reforms.

Among the taskforce's immediate priorities will be conducting a Rapid Results Initiative to map every file currently held at the Public Trustee headquarters and regional offices.

She said the exercise will establish the exact number of pending cases, determine how long each has remained unresolved and identify the specific causes of delays.

Any matter capable of immediate resolution, she directed, should be concluded without delay.

The Attorney General also disclosed that some files currently held by the department date back to 1967, while assets have remained under government management far beyond the statutory limit of 12 years.

She said digitisation of records and automation of services will be central to the reforms to enable beneficiaries to track the status of their cases, a right already guaranteed under the Public Trustee Act but largely frustrated by manual record-keeping systems.

The taskforce will further develop standard operating procedures, monitoring mechanisms and governance structures to prevent future backlogs while recommending reforms to the Law of Succession Act to strengthen protection for widows, widowers, orphans and persons living with disabilities.

Oduor said the final report will include proposals on the legal framework, governance model, financial arrangements and staff transition necessary to establish the Public Trustee as an autonomous institution operating under state corporation standards.

She also pledged that the reform process would be participatory, with public hearings to be held across the country and formal calls for memoranda to be published in the Kenya Gazette and national newspapers.

Beneficiaries, legal professionals, civil society organisations, faith-based groups, academics and members of the public have been invited to submit proposals.

"I want Kenyans to know that the era of quiet administrative injustice at the Public Trustee is ending. We are building an institution worthy of the trust placed in it by grieving families, minors and every Kenyan who expects the State to safeguard their inheritance," she said.

Taskforce Chairperson Linda Murila welcomed her appointment, describing it as an opportunity to contribute to one of the Attorney General's earliest reform priorities after assuming office.

She said the establishment of the taskforce demonstrates the government's commitment to modernisation, accountability and improved service delivery within the justice sector.

Murila observed that the Public Trustee Department serves citizens during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives by safeguarding estates, managing trust property and protecting the interests of minors and other vulnerable persons.

She said changing public expectations and evolving societal needs require institutions to embrace innovation, technology and stronger governance.

According to Murila, the taskforce has been mandated to re-engineer Public Trustee services by improving governance structures, increasing operational flexibility, enhancing financial sustainability and developing the legal framework necessary for the department's incorporation.

She emphasised that institutional reform extends beyond laws and organisational structures.

"It is about ensuring citizens receive services efficiently, transparently and with dignity. It is about restoring public confidence and ensuring justice is not delayed because of administrative inefficiencies," she said.

Murila pledged that the taskforce would engage extensively with government agencies, the Judiciary, the legal profession, civil society organisations and the public before making its recommendations.

She assured the Attorney General that the team would execute its mandate diligently and deliver practical, implementable recommendations within the stipulated timeline, while indicating that the members would convene their inaugural meeting immediately after the launch.

If additional time became necessary, she added, the taskforce would formally seek an extension while explaining the reasons for the request.