Mark Too's Billions: Court orders DNA test for all children before splitting inheritance

President William Ruto (then DP) consoles the family of former Nominated MP Mark Too during the the burial at Kapseret Uasin Gishu Countyon 9 January, 2017. [PHOTO: FILE] Six years after his death, the family of former nominated MP and Kanu-era power broker, Mark Too and his children born out of wedlock are still battling over his multimillion estate. Last week, the High Court in Eldoret ordered that all the children of the deceased MP be subjected to a sibling DNA test to ascertain their paternity. The order by Justice Eric Ogola came after Chepkoech Too, a woman claiming to be Too's biological daughter, filed an application seeking to have the tests conducted. Chepkoech filed the application in February after the late MP's widows Mary and Sophia Too disowned her. In her application, Chepkoech claimed to have been fathered by Too, stating that she had a right to be included in the sharing of her father's vast estate. She presented before court her birth certificate showing the late MP as her father.She also produced photos of her mother with the deceased as proof of a relationship between the two. She also attached evidence that she had been in touch with her step-siblings and that she had visited the deceased on various occasions, adding that she had been present at the funeral of the deceased as well. Through her lawyer Diana Ndirangu, Chepkoech argued that it was unfair to lock her out of the sharing of the estate and demanded that a DNA test be conducted to solve the paternity issue before the succession case could continue. Court order: You have seven days The family, led by the widows, had however dismissed the DNA request and maintained that if the orders sought were granted 'they would amount to an intrusion of their children's right to bodily security and integrity as well as the right to privacy.' "I find and hold that the Applicant has established a nexus to warrant the orders for a sibling DNA test. In the absence of these orders she stands to lose out on her inheritance...This will sort out the issue of paternity once and for all, something which I gather is in the interests of justice," ruled Justice Ogola. In the order, the siblings are expected to present themselves at the Kenya Institute of Medical Research within seven days for the harvesting of DNA samples for matching and comparisons and the DNA results filed in court within 30 days after the DNA examination. At the onset of the succession case, three other adults Ali Mark Too, Arafat Mohammed Bakari and (Sammy Mulili - now deceased) had claimed to be children of the late MP born out of wedlock and demanded to be included in the sharing of the estate. Muslim family Ali, told the court that his mother, Asiya Said Ali, wed Mark Too under Islamic laws before the Kadhi's court in Mombasa in the 1990s but they later separated. He presented a copy of the marriage certificate to the court. In December last year, the widows filed an application acknowledging Ali and Bakari as biological sons of their husband.They said that they would acknowledge the duo in the distribution of the estate but not Chepkoech who they claimed had made 'outrageous demands.'The court documents stated that Chepkoech had undergone DNA testing and her samples were compared and confirmed with Bakari's, who had been confirmed a son of the deceased but the family rejected the results. "On the Applicant's own volition to resolve the issue of whether she is a beneficiary, she underwent DNA testing and her sample was compared and confirmed with that of AMB. The Respondents rejected those results and for this reason the applicant seeks to have a DNA test conducted on herself and the known children of the deceased to determine paternity," read part of the ruling. Her lawyer had during the previous hearing told the court that a sibling DNA test would be the best way of resolving the matter."We are requesting that a DNA test be conducted on the applicant against all the known children of the deceased. We are proposing sibling DNA as it is easier and takes less time. However, the family seems to oppose this kind of DNA and would rather exhume the deceased's body than provide their samples," claimed Ndirangu.Prof Tom Ojienda, who represents Sophia , the second widow, had rebutted saying that Chepkoech 'has interests in other estates and it is not possible that she could be having more than one father.' Only legal wife It was not the first time that the DNA question was mentioned in the succession case. In December 2020, Justice Stephen Githinji, who was presiding over the matter, dismissed DNA requests made by a section of the parties. The first widow had also presented fresh suit papers claiming that she was Mark Too's "only legal wife" having solemnized their wedding in 1977. She also argued that Sophia's children were born out of wedlock and should be excluded in the distribution of the estate.She argued that her co-wife was just a 'mistress' and only had a daughter with the MP out of wedlock and that her other two children were not Too's biological kids and should not be included in the sharing of his estate.She asked the court to order for a DNA test to ascertain their paternity. Justice Githinji, however, struck out the DNA request arguing it was not necessary for the case to continue.The MP who died aged 60 had interests in agribusiness, large scale dairy, maize and wheat farming, property and real estate. At stake also are multimillion shilling homes in Muthaiga, Lavington in Nairobi, Milimani, Nakuru and Elgon View, Eldoret County and Sh500 million in various bank accounts.

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