Court rejects plea to release contested wills in Sh1 billion estate row

Nixon Thuo, a son to the late former Mayor Joseck Thuo, in Nakuru County, on June 9, 2024. [File, Standard] Detectives investigating the authenticity of the contested wills of the late former Nakuru Mayor Joseck Thuo in the Sh1 billion estate row will wait longer to have copies supplied. This is after Nakuru Law Courts declined to release the wills exhibited in a succession case in 2022. In their application, detectives claimed that they were investigating a case of forgery and wanted copies of the contested wills, which form part of the evidence presented in a succession case between estate beneficiaries. Police Constable Geoffrey Kinambuga told the court that a forgery claim was reported at the Central Police Station in Nakuru in December 2022 by Nixon Thuo, who is a beneficiary of the estate. The investigating officer stated that following the report by Nixon, they opened an inquiry file in January 2023 to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged forgery. The DCI sought the release of three alleged original wills and a draft copy exhibited in a succession case. Kinambuga in the application, noted that Nixon in a statement stated that the will that was purportedly prepared by his late father, dated September 3, 2016, is and was forged by some of his brothers and other people with the intent of allotting themselves huge shares of the property. The officer said Nixon claims his father was poisoned immediately after the forgery of the will. The DCI sought to have the wills subjected to forensic examination to establish their authenticity following a complaint by Nixon, and pledged to return them to the court once the police investigations are complete. Judge Julius Nang'ea, while dismissing the application by the DCI, noted that the wills in question were produced in court and are in safe custody awaiting the determination of the succession case. "The wills in question were produced in court and are in safe custody awaiting determination of the matter," said Justice Nangea. The judge noted that from the record of the succession case, Justice Heston Nyaga had dismissed a similar application in a ruling delivered on April 17, 2024, adding that there exists sufficient mechanisms in the conduct of the Succession Cause to interrogate questions as to the authenticity of the wills. "The court accordingly declines to release the wills until hearing and determination of the matter," ruled Justice Nangea. In April 2024, Justice Nyaga declined an application by Nixon, his mother, Susan Wanjiru, and his sister, Maureen Mukami, to have the copies of the wills subjected to forensic analysis. Nixon claimed that the signatures in the documents did not match, and one of the copies contained an endorsement while the other did not. He accused his step-brother James Ngeta, of allegedly forging their father's signatures twice. Nixon said that he knew his father's signature and that only the last page had the genuine one. He alleged that days after his father's death, his driver gave him a copy of the will, which was later scanned by his brother Erick and shared through their emails. At the time, Nixon claimed that the will was one copy, but later his brother Geoffrey came up with two copies. To clear the doubt, he said, they took the alleged original copy to his lawyer, who observed that it had irregularities, forcing him to take his copy to the DCI. Earlier, only a single copy of the will was subjected to forensic investigation. In October 2023, forensic document examiner Emmanuel Kenga informed the court that part of the pages did not match. Kenga concluded that it was not the original copy of the Will, as there was evidence of manipulation and insertion. The former chief document examiner at DCI indicated that the prints on the cover page of the will were produced by a different machine compared to page six. He told the court that from page one to five, the signatures were not the same, while that on page six was similar to the one availed to him. The other siblings- James, Geoffrey, and Erick insist the will is genuine and the court should rely on its content. Justice Nyaga ruled that the expert report did not raise valid points to warrant any further investigations. The former mayor died on December 27, 2021, leaving behind two widows and five children. Harrison Ngeta and Nahashon Kabiri, in August 2022, initiated a petition to the High Court in Nakuru seeking probate of Thuo's will. They claimed that the presented will was the original document. They asserted that they were the executors named in the will and that the late mayor was their uncle.

Court rejects plea to release contested wills in Sh1 billion estate row

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