Man Claiming To Be Late Kibaki’s Firstborn Sues Family, Demands Share of Wealth

A 62-year-old man claiming to be the late President Mwai Kibaki’s biological son has filed a lawsuit against the family to find out if the third President of Kenya left behind any wealth in his name.

Jacob Ocholla Mwai has petitioned the Nyeri Family Court to force the Kibaki family to acknowledge him as the firstborn son and give him an equal portion of the late President’s wealth.

Ocholla has filed a succession dispute order through lawyers; Omoke Morara and Peacela Atim to force Kibaki’s children Judy Kibaki, David Kagai, Jimmy Kibaki, and Anthony Githinji to start distributing the late President’s fortune.

In a suit filed last week, Ocholla claims that he fears he might be left out during the succession process.

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

According to Ocholla, Kibaki may have already signed his Will at the time of his death.

The complainant wants to know who should be chosen to administer Kibaki’s estate and who is entitled to receive money from it.

“It appears that Jacob Ocholla Mwai is the lawful son of the deceased and one of the persons entitled to share in his undisposed estate. Now this is to direct you (Kibaki children) to appear in the High Court at Nyeri and accept or refuse the probate of the said will or show cause why letters of administration of Kibaki’s estate should not be granted to Ocholla.”

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

The case is before Lady Justice Florence Muchemi, who ordered that it be brought up in court on September 19 for further directions.

The Kibaki family has also been ordered by Justice Muchemi to submit their reply within 21 days.

Ocholla claims in court papers that he decided to reveal his parentage now rather than when Mr Kibaki was still alive because, upon their initial meeting, the former president not only acknowledged that he was his biological father but also urged him to always respect him as a father and refrain from doing anything that would be detrimental to his (Kibaki’s) reputation.

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In an effort to get the family to formally recognize him, he continued, for 15 years he had enlisted the help of a prominent Catholic priest and a senior judge (both now retired), hired three sets of attorneys, and visited with Kibaki’s older sister, Mrs. Esther Waitherero (now deceased).

Ochola, who was born on July 22, 1960, in Nairobi’s Kaloleni estate, claims growing up he was unaware Kibaki was his father.

One year after the death of his adoptive father, he told the Standard in May, his mother told him about his biological father.

He claimed that his adoptive father was a Luo, hence the name Ocholla.

“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.”