Man Claiming to be Kibaki's Son Moves to Court Seeking a Share of His Estate

A 62-year-old man claiming to be the first-born son of the late former president Mwai Kibaki has filed a case in court seeking official recognition and a share of the family’s multi-billion-shilling estate.

In the case filed before Nyeri High Court judge Florence Muchemi, Jacob Ocholla wants Kibaki’s children Judy Kibaki, David Kagai, Jimmy Kibaki and Anthony Githinji to be compelled to reveal whether his name was included in a will he alleges was drafted by their father before his death.

Through his lawyers Omoke Morara and Peacela Atim, Ocholla further wants the court to determine who will be appointed as administrator of Kibaki's estate, expressing fears that he may be excluded from the distribution process as he was ignored by the former president’s family when he attempted to reach out to them on the same.

 “That the Citor has attempted to reach out to the Citees multiple times but his efforts have not been successful. The Citor is afraid that the Citees might proceed with the succession process without involving him and he might be left out of the estate of the deceased despite him being entitled to a share of the estate,” read the court documents.

The court has since directed Kibaki's family to file their responses within 21 days, accepting or refusing probate of the alleged will or show cause why letters of administration of Kibaki’s estate should not be granted to Ocholla. 

“Take notice that in default of your so appearing and accepting probate of the said will, this court may proceed to grant letters of administration of the said estate to Jacob Ocholla Mwai, your absence notwithstanding.”

The case will be mentioned on September 19th.

Ocholla says he was born in Nairobi’s Kaloleni estate in 1960 and grew up not knowing that Kibaki was his father until his mother made the disclosure in 1982, a year after his adoptive father, who hailed from the Luo community, passed away.

“When I turned 21, the person I knew as my father died. A year later, my mom disclosed to me that the man who had raised me was not my biological father. She told me she was going to talk to my father and introduce me to him, which she did after a month or so,” Ochola told Standard Digital in an interview.

“I never expected it to be the late president [Kibaki]. It’s not been easy for me having grown up speaking and thinking that I was Luo only to realize 22 years later that I was not from the lakeside tribe. I wish to state clearly that I am not the brother to the late president, I am his biological son,” he added.

From then on, Ocholla claims he remained in constant touch with Kibaki and would occasionally visit his Muthaiga residence and official office in Nyari to exchange pleasantries.