Man disowns 'step mother', accuses her of extorting land

The son of a renowned Nakuru businessman Peter Muyara Chege has accused an alleged step mother, Margaret Wairimu, of deceiving his father on his deathbed and extorting family land.

Testifying before Nakuru Principal Magistrate Ruth Kefa on Monday, Mr Francis Ngumi disowned Ms Wairimu, saying he does not know her and she was not Chege's widow.

Ms Wairimu, who insists she was Chege's wife, and her son, Mr Simon Chege, have been charged with nine counts of forgery relating to the contested land located in Bahati, Nakuru.

The two on September 15, 2017 allegedly made a fake sale and transfer agreement purporting it to be a genuine agreement between Ms Wairimu and the deceased.

It stated that the late Chege had agreed to sell a 37-acre land to Ms Wairimu at a value of Sh5 million.

The two are said to have forged Chege's death certificate and purported it to be a genuine document issued by the Department of Civil Registration on November 6, 2017 within Nakuru.

They have denied the charges, with Ms Wairimu insisting that the late Chege had gifted her the land and she paid the Sh5 million in return as an appreciation.

However, according to Mr Ngumi, the family believes Ms Wairimu forged the document. He testified that it was unrealistic for his father to sell the entire family land to one person.

Land rates

Ms Ngumi added that the land rates were also shocking, as the alleged cost for the entire parcel - which was sold in 2017 - was equivalent to the value of one acre.

"The moment we received the agreement and saw the price of the land, we knew it was fake and forgery was involved," he testified.

Mr Ngumi said an executor of the agreement went to their office and gave him the agreement on September 12, 2017.

He said he was shocked when he realised that the agreement was dated August 15, 2017.

"My father was admitted to hospital on August 10, 2017. He was in critical condition and I am adamant that he was not in a proper state of mind to execute and agree a sale agreement," he said.

He added that it was bizarre for Wairimu to send the agreement to him just three days after his father had died. "We had not even buried him when we received the agreement."

He said his elder brother, Mr Joseph Gaturo, withheld the agreement and reported the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations where they surrendered the documents for verification.

"We were told that the documents were fake; the agreement was forged and the serial numbers of the death certificate Ms Wairimu possessed was different from the ones we had," he testified.