Cohen's relatives seek to join Sarah Wairimu's succession case

Sarah Wairimu, widow of Dutch billionaire Tob Cohen, at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on January 27, 2020, when she was allowed supervised access to their Kitisuru home to collect personal effects. PHOTO | RICHARD MUNGUTI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Gabrielle, Sharon Cohen and Seth Van Straten state in court documents filed by lawyer Dunstan Omari that Cohen listed them as executors of his Will.
  • The document does not allocate widow Sarah Wairimu any property and distributes Cohen's estate to Gabrielle (50 per cent), Sharon (29 per cent) and Seth (29) per cent).
  • The three relatives say they were bequeathed the properties of Cohen, who was brutally murdered and his body found in a sealed water tank at their Kitisuru home.

Relatives of murdered Dutch billionaire Tob Cohen, including his sister Gabrielle, have filed a case seeking to join the succession case filed by his widow Sarah Wairimu Kamotho.

Gabrielle, Sharon Cohen and Seth Van Straten state in court documents filed by lawyer Dunstan Omari that Cohen listed them as executors of his Will.

The Will, that Mr Omari attached to the application on Monday, was prepared and made public by Cohen's lawyer Chege Kirundi.

ALLOCATIONS

The document does not allocate Ms Wairimu any property.

It gives Gabrielle the money in two bank accounts at the NIC Bank in Kenya and Rabo Bank Amstelveen in The Netherlands.

The Will also distributes Cohen's estate to Gabrielle (50 per cent), Sharon (29 per cent) and Seth (29) per cent).

The billionaire said in the will that in the event Gabrielle died before him, Sharon and Seth would get equal shares of his estate.

JUSTICE

The three relatives say they were bequeathed the properties of Cohen, who was brutally murdered and his body found in a sealed water tank at their Kitisuru home. The body was discovered on September 13, 2019.

Gabriele has sworn an affidavit in support of the application to be joined to the case.

“That his Will bequeathed to me and the other two interested parties his property including a house he had to work hard to build, located on Farasi Lane L R2951/440, measuring 0.3162 hectares on Mugumoini Close in Nairobi," she says.

She notes that Ms Wairimu was one married to her brother and is also seeking to benefit from the estate.

Mr Omari said, “The three have identifiable stake in the estate and [joining] them in the succession case will breathe life into the constitutional dictate of allowing access to justice to all persons,” Mr Omari says in documents for the case filed under a certificate of urgency.

The succession case will be heard on February 10, 2020.

WAIRIMU'S CASE

Ms Wairimu has sued the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the registrar of births and deaths, the Department of Civil Registration in Nairobi and the Attorney-General

During her bail hearing, she told Justice Stella Mutuku that her late husband's sibling were eyeing their Sh400 million matrimonial house

On Monday, Ms Wairimu collected some items from their home under the strict supervision of DCI officers.

She was only required to pick her clothes, shoes, handbags and grooming tools as deemed necessary to accord her a comfortable life under the circumstances of her ongoing case.

To each room she entered, she was accompanied by two female officers.

Every item she picked was photographed and booked into an inventory by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The items were then packed in white bed sheets, polythene bags and suitcases, which were then put in a truck under the supervision of the DCI detectives, regular police and her lawyers, led by Philip Murgor.

Police are guarding the home as it is a crime scene.