The widow of former Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore wants the media locked out of the succession case.
Yesterday, Wambui Kamiru’s lawyer Njenga Kahura told Family Court Judge Maureen Odero that she wanted the case heard in camera.
Although she did not disclose which media house she was aggrieved of, Wambui complained that each time the case was before the court, it was misreported. The lawyer did not also say what stories she was complaining about.
“I want to ask the court that the matter be heard in camera. It is because all the time this matter comes up, there is inaccurate reporting,” Njenga said. The judge had ordered Wambui and Collymore’s children, who are in the United Kingdom, to virtually appear before her yesterday. This was to have the children give their consent for Wambui to manage Collymore’s estate.
Yesterday, the judge asked the lawyer whether he had obtained a notarised consent if the children would not appear. For the court to confirm the grant, it gives time for family members or persons who have interest to either challenge the Will or claim a share of the deceased’s estate.
If a contest is filed, the case will first be flagged for mediation to see if it can be amicably settled out of court. If not settled, then the case is handed to the judge who subsequently hears the opposition.
If there is no contest, the court requires that each person listed as a beneficiary confirms that they are not opposed to either a person administering an estate or how it should be shared. Also, one is required to confirm that he or she has not been forced to agree to the terms of a Will or division of an estate. Collymore left all his assets in Kenya, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of shillings, to Wambui.
In wishes captured in his final Will, he appointed State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita as an alternate executor of his Will should anything happen to Wambui.
