• Two women had claimed widow Sylvia is out to disinherit them and should not be given powers to manage the estate alone.
• They had demanded that widow Sylvia be denied powers to manage the property alone.
Image: COURTESY
Two women have won the first round of a succession battle over the estate of the late Jonathan Moi after a court recognised their children as beneficiaries.
They had demanded that widow Sylvia be denied powers to manage the property alone. Jonathan was the son of retired President Daniel Moi.
High Court judge Aggrey Muchelule on Tuesday ordered their six children listed as beneficiaries of the multimillion-shilling estate following an agreement entered into by all parties in the case.
Three children belong to Faith Mburu, while two belong to Beatrice Mbuli. The sixth had come on board in the case as an objector.
The judge also directed the parties to compile and file in court a list of assets and liabilities of the estate in the next two weeks.
Joshua Mutai was also allowed to participate in the case on behalf of creditors. The consent came about after the two women, together with Mutai, filed an objection.
The women had claimed that Sylvia is out to disinherit them. Beatrice and Faith said they were legally married to Jonathan but now face the imminent threat of being denied their share of the estate of their late husband.
They accused Sylvia of claiming to be the only widow and dashing to court to seek letters of administration, to their exclusion.
Sylvia had asked the court to allow her to manage the estate with the aim of paying rent due and rates accrued. At the time of his death, Jonathan owned parcels and was a shareholder in several companies.
Some of the properties, Sylvia says, have accrued rent and rates whose demands had been made, hence the need to pay to avoid incurring penalties. She informed the court she was in the process of collating her late husband’s properties and it would take time.
In the meantime, she needed a limited grant. Under limited grant, Sylvia indicated she would have no powers to distribute the estate. But Beatrice and Faith read malice, saying she failed to inform them.
The case will come up for mention on December 11.
(Edited by F'Orieny)