- The will in Kirundi's custody alleges that the late Cohen did not leave anything to his wife Wairimu.
- Cohen’s family lawyer Shadrack Wambui has opposed the numerous applications by Wairimu, arguing that she is misusing Cohen’s name in her papers.
Image: FILE
The succession battle of the late business tycoon Tob Cohen has now taken a new twist after it emerged there are two wills each claimed to be the original.
Sarah Wairimu claimed she has the original will of her late husband and any other will out there is fake.
However, lawyer Chege Kirundi also has a will which he said is the original and was opened in 2019 after Cohen’s death just before he was buried.
The will in Kirundi's custody alleges that the late Cohen did not leave anything to his wife Wairimu.
It claims that he shared his estate between his brother Benard Cohen and Gabriel Van Straten who was to share her potion with the children.
However, on Wednesday, Phillip Murgor told Justice Mugure Thande that his client Wairimu has the original will and is willing to produce the same in court.
Justice Thande suspended the grant that had been issued to Benard and Gabriel after an application by Wairimu challenging it was allowed.
This means that the family of the late Cohen cannot have access to the estate, pending hearing and determination of the case.
Wairimu had urged the court to suspend the grant for administration of all Cohen’s vast estate, saying they used a forged will to get the grant.
The court further directed Kirundi to avail the will in his possession during the hearing of the case in June next year.
But in his replying affidavit to Wairimu’s application, Kirundi said he will not produce the will in the succession case because it is an exhibit in the murder trial against Wairimu.
“The original will of the deceased is in my custody, having been signed by the deceased in my office," he said.
"I shall continue to hold it until Wairimu has either been convicted or acquitted of the charge of murder against her.”
Kirundi further said that he is required to give evidence at Wairimu’s murder trial with the said original will.
Cohen’s family lawyer Shadrack Wambui has opposed the numerous applications by Wairimu, arguing that she is misusing Cohen’s name in her papers.
Wambui said that Wairimu should not use Cohen as her last name because she never used it during their marriage.
Wambui who appears jointly with Danstan Omari for the Cohen family further said they intend to file an application to strike out her applications.
He further said her full name is Sarah Wairimu Kamotho and not Cohen.
Therefore as far as they are concerned in the succession case, the person before court is non-existent and fictitious, and does not exist in the eyes of the law.
“Our application is intended to have the cases that have been filed by this fictitious person named Sarah Cohen struck out because there is nobody who is known by those names,” he said.
Wambui further said the use of the word Cohen against the name Sarah Wairimu Kamotho is meant to confuse the court and obstruct the mind of the court so that they give a lenient ruling.
He claimed that Wairimu wants the court to look at her with clemency as a widow yet she is a suspect of murder having been accused of killing her husband.
“In the lifetime of her husband, she refused to pick up the name of her husband, yet in his death in which she is accused of participating, she picks up the name to claim a piece of the estate,” she said.
Kirundi, Cohen’s sister Gabriel and brother Benard and two other witnesses are expected to give evidence in the matter on June 27.
(edited by Amol Awuor)