Court Rejects Woman's Claim to the Estate of the Late Otieno Kajwang

The legal battle surrounding the estate of the late Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang has taken a new turn with the Family Court in Nairobi denying the claims of a woman who alleges to be his widow.

The case centers around the competing claims of two women – Dr Rose Bujehela Otieno who was married to Kajwang in a church wedding, and Faith Vivian Otieno who asserts that she was married to the senator through customary law and had cohabited with him for an extended period. The court's decision hinges on the testimony of both parties and their witnesses. Bujehela maintains that she was Kajwang's sole wife, having married him in 1985 after a three-year courtship. She acknowledges the existence of Kajwang's two children with Faith but claims no knowledge of an alleged marriage between them.

Conversely, Faith argues that she was Kajwang's second wife, having met him in 1993 and subsequently cohabited with him. She claims that they married under Luo Customary Law with Kajwang paying her parents dowry. She further states that they had two children together. The crux of the matter revolves around the interpretation of marriage under customary law and its standing in relation to a church wedding. The judge has ultimately ruled in favour of Bujehela, concluding that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrate that she was the only wife of the deceased.

The court states that "marriage is a status which does not change like weather," rejecting Faith's claim that cohabitation should be presumed as a marriage. The case has taken a further twist with the involvement of Kajwang's brother, Okoto Ojwang, who claims that his late brother owed him Sh15 million. Ojwang petitions the court to grant him a property in United Estate and remove properties in Lavington and another location, asserting that they belonged to the estate of their late father, David Ajwang.

He testifies that his father had made it clear that a piece of land in Lambwe West was not included in the estate and that both the estate and the land were registered under his name. Adding to the complexity, it was revealed that Kajwang and Bujehela had gone their separate ways before his passing. Bujehela acknowledges that Kajwang had previously filed a case for child support and custody in 2003, but during the court proceedings, she stated that they were not married at the time.