Passaris Ex-Husband Pius Ngugi Faces Arrest Over Sh4.2 Million Debt

The hunter has become the hunted. Billionaire businessman Pius Mbugua Ngugi, the macadamia mogul and estranged husband of Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, is now a wanted man after a Nakuru court issued a warrant for his arrest over an unpaid legal bill amounting to Sh4.2 million.

The man who controls a tenth of the world’s macadamia market and whose business empire spans from nut processing to coffee mills, insurance to real estate, is currently on the run from police who have been camping outside his Loita Street offices at the iconic Volvo House in Nairobi’s CBD.

Sources privy to the dramatic turn of events reveal that officers from Central Police Station were left frustrated after failing to nab the 81-year-old tycoon despite knowing he was within the premises. In a cat and mouse game reminiscent of a Nollywood thriller, Ngugi managed to slip through the police dragnet, leaving the law enforcers empty-handed.

The Environment and Land Court in Nakuru has given police officers carte blanche to pursue Ngugi to all his known residences and business premises, both in Nairobi and upcountry.

The warrant, dated January 29, 2026, even provides for travel expenses, with officers entitled to bus or railway fare, or Sh1 per mile if they use motor vehicles, plus out-of-pocket expenses.

At the heart of this high-stakes drama is a debt owed to law firm Githogori & Harisson Associates. Court documents indicate that Ngugi owes the legal practice Sh3.7 million as the principal sum, Sh475,948 in accrued interest, plus court collection fees of Sh5,500 and Sh1,500.

It is the kind of money that would be pocket change for a man of Ngugi’s stature, yet here we are.

Harrison Musyoka, an advocate at the law firm, has been pushing hard for action. In a letter dated February 4, 2026, and addressed to the Central Police Station OCS, Musyoka emphasized the urgency of the matter. The case is scheduled for directions today, February 5, when the court expects an update on progress made in executing the arrest orders. The OCS received the warrant only yesterday, adding pressure to what is already a ticking clock.

For Passaris, this latest scandal involving her husband must feel like déjà vu. The Nairobi Woman Rep has never shied away from admitting that her polygamous marriage to Ngugi has been anything but smooth sailing. In a candid 2016 interview, she confessed that while she never planned to be in such an arrangement, she has learned to accept it. The couple shares two children, Makenna and Lefteris, though Ngugi also has four other children with his first wife, Josephine Wambui Ngugi.

Their relationship has been tabloid fodder for years. In 2003, Passaris dragged Ngugi to court, claiming he had breached a promise to marry her after they had lived as man and wife since 1992. Then in 2014, another woman, Lynette Lucy Buddery, sued him for failing to pay their daughter’s school fees on time. The man clearly has a complicated personal life.

But Ngugi’s troubles extend beyond domestic disputes. His Kenya Nut Company, the crown jewel of his empire established in 1974, has had its own brushes with the law. In 2020, the Court of Appeal ordered the company to pay the Kenya Revenue Authority Sh33.5 million in withholding tax from commissions paid to overseas agents between 2002 and 2005. The judges didn’t mince words, stating that entering contracts allowing foreign agents to deduct commissions without mechanisms for withholding tax was “not only reckless” but “intended to deny the country revenue.”

Now, as police continue their manhunt, questions swirl. How does a billionaire with interests in Thika Coffee Mills, Kenya Alliance Insurance, Tatu City, sweet manufacturing, dairy farming, wineries, and real estate find himself dodging arrest over what amounts to legal fees? For a man whose Out of Africa nuts, Nassu Snacks, Aberdare Tea, and Leleshwa Wines grace supermarket shelves across the country, this is an embarrassing fall from grace.

The irony is not lost on those who have watched Ngugi’s journey from a young coffee farmer in Kiambu to one of Kenya’s most successful agribusiness tycoons. In 1972, when coffee prices plummeted, he pivoted to macadamia farming, foreseeing the nut’s global potential. With government support and Japanese investors, he built a processing empire that today employs over 4,000 people and manages farms covering more than 8,000 acres.

Yet here he is, a fugitive over a debt that represents a fraction of his vast wealth. The man who once kept such a low profile that Kenyans only saw his face in a 1995 Kenya Newsreel broadcast before the screening of Crimson Tide is now headline news for all the wrong reasons.

As the court date looms, one thing is certain: Pius Ngugi cannot run forever. Whether he settles the debt or continues playing hide and seek with the boys in blue, this chapter of his storied life will not be forgotten anytime soon. For Passaris, who has weathered many storms with her billionaire husband, this is yet another test of their complicated union.

The streets are watching, and the law is closing in. Will the macadamia king finally face the music, or does he have another trick up his sleeve? Only time will tell.