New twist in the administration of Samuel Wanjiru's estate

Samuel Kamau Wanjiru wins Gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing. [File, Getty Images]

A Nakuru High Court has recalled the administration of the late Olympic marathoner Samuel Wanjiru's multi-million estate, after a woman presented DNA evidence proving she had a son with him.

Judy Wambui had sought orders before Justice Samwel Mohochi to revoke the grant of letters of administration dated August 1, 2017, issued to Terezah Njeri and Margret Muturi.

Wambui claimed that the grant was obtained fraudulently by concealment, as the administrators failed to disclose other beneficiaries.

The woman swore an affidavit on her behalf and that of her son, SJK, claiming she was Wanjiru’s wife.

“In 2007, Wanjiru visited my guardian and proposed to marry me, where my guardian insisted that I finish college. Wanjiru used to pay my school fees and we lived together in Nakuru as a couple,” she added.

She claimed that Wanjiru paid for the house she lived in, had a child out of the union who was born on August 24, 2011, and even took part in the funeral arrangements.

She claimed to have filed a case in 2011, seeking to extract the DNA samples from Wanjiru during the postmortem, which was granted, confirming Wanjiru as her son's father.

Njeri said that she was the only wife of her late husband, who passed on May 15, 2011, terming Wambui as an imposter.

She said the woman surfaced after her husband’s death with nothing to show that she was married to Wanjiru.

Njeri said to have settled with Wanjiru at their matrimonial home in Nyahururu, and had many other properties in Nakuru town.

She claimed to have been involved in developing the properties, which were still underdeveloped when Wanjiru died.

She refuted the claims that the woman took part in the funeral arrangement, insisting that her name doesn’t appear anywhere in the obituary.

"The court was unable to find that the Applicant falls within section 29 of the Law of Succession Act as a dependant to the deceased’s estate in however as much as she might have been in a romantic relationship with the deceased as she exhibited in the two photographs produced in evidence," the judge noted.

The judge noted that Wambui has no standing as such and her pleas are rejected.

Mohochi noted that Kenya's Law of Succession Act explicitly includes "a child conceived but not yet born" within its protective umbrella.