Twins mother seeks to join court battle for Fidel Odinga's property
What you need to know:
- Ms Phoebe Akinyi Ogweno said she wants to join the case to clear the air and give her position in the case.
- Justice Arsenath Ongeri certified the application by Ms Ogweno as urgent and directed her to serve both Mrs Odinga and Ms Bekele, with the court papers.
- Ms Ogweno said the tussle pits Mrs Odinga and her daughter Winnie on one side and Ms Bekele on the other and it was her wish to join the case because she and her children have been left in between.
The mother of twins at the centre of dispute between Ida Odinga and daughter in-law Lwam Getachew Bekele wants to join the case to protect the interest of her children.
In an affidavit filed in court last week, Ms Phoebe Akinyi Ogweno said she wants to join the case to clear the air and give her position in the case.
Her request will be heard on November 13, the same day Justice Aggrey Muchelule had directed Mrs Odinga and Fidel’s widow, Ms Bekele, to return to court after conducting DNA tests on the twins.
Justice Arsenath Ongeri certified the application by Ms Ogweno as urgent and directed her to serve both Mrs Odinga and Ms Bekele, with the court papers.
INTERESTED PARTY
Through lawyer John Swaka, Ms Ogweno said the tussle pits Mrs Odinga and her daughter Winnie on one side and Ms Bekele on the other and it was her wish to join the case because she and her children have been left in between.
“The intended interested party and her children have been left in between and owing to that, she seeks leave of the court to be enjoined as an interested party to clear the air and give her position on the same,” Mr Swaka said in the application.
Mrs Odinga moved to court saying she wanted to protect the interest of other beneficiaries of the estate of her late son Fidel and her other children.
She said her daughter in-law secretly filed the application for control over Fidel’s assets and failed to furnish them with the papers despite having an interest in the estate.
“The said grant was issued erroneously, as it unjustifiably locked out other interested parties from the estate of the deceased, his other children, his mother and sister respectively. The proposed administrators cannot be entrusted alone to faithfully administer according to the law the estate of the deceased and render a true and just account of such estate,” she said.
TEST
She further said Ms Bekele had intermeddled with the estate and her main interest is to protect, safeguard and guarantee the well-being of her grandchildren and ensure a proper account and distribution of the estate is carried out.
Justice Muchelule ordered a DNA test to be conducted on the twins to establish their paternity. Ms Bekele did not object to the application and said she was ready to include them as beneficiaries of the estate, if the twins were sired by Fidel.
Ida and Winnie want the High Court to revoke administration letters granted to Ms Bekele in January and instead allow them to control Fidel’s assets.
Rose and Raila Junior, Odinga’s other children, have signed the petition as sureties in the event that their mother and sister mismanage the estate.
The Odingas claim that they have unsuccessfully tried to reach out to Ms Bekele and her brother Fahm Getachew Bekele so that a joint application for administration of Fidel’s estate could be filed.
The two claim that shortly after Fidel’s burial, Ms Bekele “took off from her matrimonial home soon after the deceased was laid to rest, and cut all communications with the family of the deceased”.
