Inside the two-page Fred Kubai’s will that led to 23-year fight

A will drafted by the late freedom fighter Fred Kubai has been upheld by a court. In it, he disowned his four wives and left his property to a woman his family insists was their househelp.

For a second time, the family court in Nairobi has rejected claims by his children that the will had been forged by Christina Gakuhi, the woman they allege was their househelp.

The two-paged handwritten document dated January 19, 1991, has been the subject of a 23-year succession battle following Kubai’s death on Madaraka Day in 1996.

Capital letters

On the second page, written in capital letters, the will states how he parted ways with his four wives. It would appear this was emphasis as the first page is written in small-case letters and makes Ms Gakuhi the sole administrator of Kubai’s estate. 

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) investigated claims of forgery by the patriarch’s children and concluded that the will was a forgery. However, the courts have twice rejected that finding.

Family Court judge Asenath Ongeri ruled that Kubai’s children had no recourse as they never appealed the initial verdict by Justice William Musyoka, who found the will authentic.

Geoffrey Chania, a forensic examiner at the DCI, had found that the signature in it was not from the same person.

“In my opinion, the signatures were made by different authors,” Mr Chania wrote.

However, Justice Ongeri, in her judgement dated August 2, 2019 and seen by The Standard, found that the will was valid and that the patriarch had taken care of each of his children.

“I find the testator catered for all of his beneficiaries in the said will. His beneficiaries were his previous wives and children,” she ruled.

This battle has also proven expensive to the State as it cost it Sh1 million after the court found that forgery charges against Gakuhi were illegal.

Justice Chacha Mwita ruled that former Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko breached the law when he allowed the woman to be charged in a succession case.

He found that Kubai’s children could not re-awaken the succession case by having Gakuhi charged for falsifying the hand-written will.

Cheap coffin

According to the will, Kubai wanted to be buried within 36 hours of his death.  He left his estate to Gakuhi and gave her powers to execute the will.

She was also to oversee his interment and ensure that the burial would only be conducted by few family members.

Despite being a politician, the will reads that he wanted a cheap coffin made from off-cut timber. Additionally, he did not want any harambee collection to cover the burial expenses.

And when the funeral rolled around, he specified in the will obtained exclusively by The Standard, Kubai did not want any speeches, feasting, drinking of alcohol or singing. Further, he did not want his coffin or grave draped in flowers.

The man led a polygamous life and had four wives whom he allegedly parted ways with before his heart settled on Gakuhi. His first wife was Sofia Muthoni, whom he left in 1964.

Gakuhi did not have children with Kubai, but had two sons from a previous relationship.