Kibaki’s Children Oppose DNA Test Request in Wealth Dispute with Two Persons Claiming to be His Offsprings

The late former President Mwai Kibaki’s four children have opposed a request for a DNA test to confirm whether they are siblings with two persons, who are claiming a share of their dad’s wealth.

Judy Wanjiku, Jimmy Kibaki, David Kagai and Antony Githenji have cited a violation of their privacy and want the court to dismiss the request by Jacob Ocholla and a woman codenamed JNL seeking orders for sibling and paternity DNA tests.

Ocholla and JNL, who claim they were sired by Kibaki, moved to court following his death in April and are claiming a stake in his wealth. They want to be recognized as his children and beneficiaries of his multi-billion-shilling estate.

In the first prayer, the two want the court to order a sibling or paternity DNA test to establish whether they are children of the late president. Alternatively, they have sought orders for the exhumation of Kibaki’s body for extraction and collection of samples to be used in a DNA paternity test.

Ocholla’s lawyer Morara Omoke told the court that there are no known DNA samples of Kibaki that have been stored in a data bank or any other facility, hence exhumation is the only option for a paternity test.

But in a response filed in court, Kibaki’s four children opposed the DNA test request and sharing of Kibaki’s wealth with Ocholla and JNL. They have disputed the parentage of Ocholla and JNL, saying Kibaki never introduced the two to his family during his lifetime.

Last month, Justice Maureen Odero referred the succession matter for mediation. She directed Ochola, Wanjiku, Jimmy, Kagai and Githinji to mediate the dispute relating to DNA paternity testing.

The judge further ordered full disclosure of all documents to parties, particularly the Will and the list of all assets belonging to Kibaki, who died in April aged 90. 

In a six-page will signed in 2016, Kibaki shared his undeclared wealth equally among his four children.