Two widows of former President Daniel Moi’s eldest son Jonathan are entangled in a succession battle with his first widow and have been granted time to produce witnesses.
The two from customary marriages accuse the first widow, Sylvia, of trying to disinherit them.
High Court judge Aggrey Muchelule on Wednesday directed the two widows to file affidavit evidence of their witnesses for the case be mentioned on May 24. The two widows are Beatrice Mbuli and Faith Mburu.
The widows had agreed to include five children as well as another son, Collins Moi, as beneficiaries of the estate.
Three children belong to Mburu, two belong to Mbuli. The sixth,Collins, had come on board as an objector.
Jonathan died on April 20, 2019, and was buried at his farm in Kabimoi, Eldama Ravine.
Jonathan’s first wife, Sylvia, was granted a temporary order to administer the estate but the order was limited to offsetting bills and preserving her husband’s estate until the court made a final determination.
Sylvia stated her husband was only worth Sh30 million, including Sh15 million land in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, Sh10 million shares in Tiro Holdings Limited (Sh10 million) and Sh5 million shares in Nakuru Oil Mills.
The letter of administration was published in the Kenya Gazette on September 13, 2019.
But Nyambura disputed the estate’s worth as presented and accused Sylvia of misappropriating the estate and transferring assets to her name, without her knowledge.
“That the respondents have massively devalued the deceased’s estate and which estate I understand to be massive and running into hundreds of millions of shillings,” she said in a sworn statement.
Mbuli, who stated that she married Jonathan in accordance with Akamba customary law on July 17, 1998, said she has no problem working with Sylvia.
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 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 said, have accrued rent and rates with demands for payment, 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.
The case will be mentioned on May 24.
(Edited by V. Graham)
