Nakuru tycoon’s property case to be heard in three days

Ms Annah Wanjiru Olweny (left) and Ms Norah Atieno Olweny address the press at the Nakuru Law Courts on December 14, 2016, when they sought orders to stop the burial of businessman Eliakim Washington Olweny.



What you need to know:

  • His first wife, Ms Akoth, filed a succession suit in 2018 seeking to be granted letters of administration of the estate.
  • But Ms Atieno and Ms Wanjiru moved to court objecting the application by Ms Akoth.
  • The two accused Ms Akoth of failing to disclose to the court that they were also entitled to a share of the estate.

The High Court in Nakuru has moved to expedite a succession dispute pitting three widows of a former Nakuru businessman in a bid to save his multi-million estate from wastage.

In a bid to speed up the case, Justice Anthony Ndung’u on Tuesday set three days for hearing and determining the matter before an administrator is appointed to manage the estate of the late Eliakim Washington Olweny.

Three women, Phelisia Akoth Olweny, Norah Atieno Olweny and Anne Wanjiru, are fighting for control of the estate estimated to be valued at Sh200 Million.

PROPERTIES

Mr Olweny, a former surveyor and a renowned businessman in Nakuru, owned, among other properties, Evans Sunrise Hospital in Nakuru, survey firms, parcels of land and other assets across the country.

Immediately after his death and controversial burial in 2017, the widows went to court to fight for authority to control the property.

His first wife, Ms Akoth, filed a succession suit in 2018 seeking to be granted letters of administration of the estate together with her two children, Edwin Otieno Olweny and Timothy Ochieng Olweny.

But Ms Atieno and Ms Wanjiru moved to court objecting the application by Ms Akoth accusing her of failing to disclose to the court that they were also entitled to a share of the estate.

MISLED COURT

According to Ms Atieno, Ms Akoth, her co-wife, misled the court by failing to name her and her children as beneficiaries in the petition, saying she was also a legal wife after being married through the Luo customary law.

Ms Wanjiru also accused the petitioners of planning to disinherit her and her children of their rightful entitlement by failing to disclose to the court their relationship with Mr Olweny, information she claims they knew.

But the petitioners, in their application, denied knowing the other families whom they termed as strangers seeking to inherit the Mr Olweny’s property.

BIRTH CERTIFICATES

In a shocking turn of events, the petitioners, after denying the relationship between Mr Olweny and Ms Atieno, also challenged the birth certificates of their children in court.

They objected to the application by Norah seeking for minimal provision for her and her two children who are still students pending the determination of the case.

Justice Ndung’u, through a consent order, directed the parties to abandon their applications to allow the case be determined first.

SEPTEMBER HEARING

He gave the parties 45 days to file and serve their documents and exchange evidence before hearing on September 25, 26 and 30.

Among the issues the court is set to determine include the proof of marriage, beneficiaries’ claim to the estate as well as the appointment of an administrator for the estate.

The passing on of Mr Olweny in November 2016 at the Nairobi Hospital sparked a vicious fight between his three widows who fought for his body.

The burial was delayed for weeks after the women sought court intervention to agree on the funeral arrangements.

Ms Norah and Ms Wanjiru accused Ms Akoth of conspiring with her sons Timothy and Edwin to lock them out of the burial ceremony.

He was later buried at dawn in his rural home in Siaya at Ms Akoth’s compound.