Men produce receipts in Nyachae succession case

Former Cabinet minister and ex-Nyaribari Chache MP, Simeon Nyachae, during the requiem mass of the late George Saitoti in Nairobi on June 15, 2012. [File, Standard]

Two men who claim to have married a woman alleging to be the widow of former Cabinet minister Simeon Nyachae have presented new evidence to support their claim of being the fathers of her two sons.

During the hearing, Margaret Chweya denied any connection to Jacob Machuki and Michael Pondo. She insisted that the late minister was the father of her sons, Rodney and Paul Chweya. But in his recent court filings before Family Court Judge Eric Ogola, Mr Machuki submitted a doodle, a nursery school report card, and a photo featuring him, Rodney, and Margaret as evidence of his paternity.

Machuki also included a letter he said was written by Chweya to his father, Omogaka Mokaya, in 1975.

Mr Pondo, on the other hand, submitted an antenatal attendance sheet he said showed Chweya’s pregnancy.

In his additional affidavit, Pondo attached an outpatient card, a school fees receipt, and a receipt for Sh925 as proof that he paid the hospital bill when Paul was born at Mater Hospital.

Among Pondo’s new evidence is bank documentation related to a house in Loresho.

Meanwhile, Margaret’s daughter, Patricia Moraa, turned against her mother after filing an affidavit denying that she is Nyachae’s daughter.

Moraa narrated in her court documents that she was born in California, US, in 1987. According to her, she is certain that her father is one Gordon Odero.

During the hearing before Justice Ogola in July this year, Margaret claimed that Odero was a stalker while she was at the university.

She claimed that her interaction with Odero was a sad story. Margaret said she ‘interacted’ and entertained him because she knew he was a dangerous man and may hurt her. However, the woman said she had alerted Nyachae about it.

“Gordon Odero was a man stalking me and he wanted to marry me. I had to tell him I was a married woman. I told my husband about it, and he told me the story was scary.”

Nyachae family’s lawyer, George Muchiri, showed her a birth certificate indicating her daughter was called Patricia Moraa Odero.

“Who is the father of the child?” Mr Muchiri asked.

“According to the document, the father is Gordon Odero,” she replied.

“Who is the mother?” he continued. She replied: “The mother is Margaret.”

Margaret was also questioned about another court document indicating Odero had been pursued by the US government to provide parental support to her thirdborn. It was claimed she married Odero in Nevada, US.

But her daughter, in the new affidavit, claimed that she did a DNA paternity test sometime in May last year and confirmed that Odero was her father.

“I wish to categorically state that I have never known any other father except George Gordon Odero contrary to what is alleged in the suit. I wish to categorically state that I have never met or spoken with the late honorable Simeon Nyachae, and I have never had any relationship with the deceased,” she said.

Moraa said she never authorized her mother to sue on her behalf in the Nyachae succession case, adding that she is willing to testify in person to distance herself from the case.

The fresh evidence gives the case a new twist even as Nyachae’s family push for a DNA test to be conducted on Rodney and Paul.