The inheritance of Kenya’s late President Mwai Kibaki has landed squarely in the High Court. Jacob Ochola Mwai is challenging the former president’s will. Mr Ochola claims he is the biological son of the late head of state.
The case is being heard in the High Court’s family division before Justice Eric Ogola. Ochola Mwai, alongside Jane Kimani, is seeking the revocation of the late President Kibaki’s will.
Furthermore, they are also demanding the exhumation of the body. This measure would allow DNA testing to confirm paternity. The former president’s first family has strongly opposed these demands.
A Father-Son Bond Claimed in Court
Jacob Ochola, born in 1960, took the witness stand on Thursday. He detailed his claimed close relationship with the late president. Ochola narrated to Justice Ogola how he first met his alleged father in 1982. At the time, Jacob was 22 years old.
He recalled how his late mother introduced him to the former president.
“Mom summons me to go home, and when I get there, she serves lunch and thereafter. She tells me she wanted to share something very important with me, and she told me that the man who raised me was not my father.”
Ochola told the court they held numerous meetings after that first encounter. These meetings, he claims, bonded their ties.
He informed the court that he met the former president at his Nairobi residence and at their home.
Mr Ochola asserted that these visits were well-known.
“I used to go to Muthaiga residency a lot, and the security guard there knew me very well. I also knew them by name…”
He also claimed that President Kibaki’s sister, Esther, knew he was the president’s son. He further suggested that the late president had encouraged him to incorporate ‘Mwai’ into his name.
Seeking Entitlement
Mr Ochola claims that the former president had promised him a share of the estate. During his testimony, he stated that in 2016, the late president assured him that he would receive a letter detailing his entitlement. This letter was expected to bear his name.
Ochola told the court that his step-siblings do not want to accept his existence.
“My stepsister and brothers don’t want to accept it.”
However, during cross-examination, he faced questions regarding the timing of his name change. Senior council Githu Muigai questioned why he officially changed his name in 2022, following Kibaki’s death.
Ochola denied that the name change was an anticipation of generating the current claim. He explained that the change was intended “to get my entitlement if the will was done in my name”.
by moses sagwe
