A United States-based Kenyan woman has lost her bid to claim a share of the multi-million-shilling estate of the late former Cabinet Minister Simeon Nyachae after the High Court ruled that she was not his wife.
Justice Eric Ogola dismissed the claim by Margaret Chweya, finding that she failed to prove the existence of a lawful marriage to Nyachae.
The ruling means Chweya has no legal claim to Nyachae’s estate, dealing a decisive victory to the Nyachae family in the long-running succession dispute.
The court also rejected her attempt to have her two sons recognised as dependants of the deceased, noting that their biological fathers are alive and that no evidence had been presented to legally link them to Nyachae.
Chweya had moved to court seeking spousal and dependency rights, arguing that she had been married to the former powerful civil servant and was therefore entitled to inherit from his estate.
She relied largely on photographs allegedly taken with Nyachae during his lifetime to support her claim.
However, the court found the evidence insufficient, holding that photographs alone cannot establish marriage under Kenyan law.
With the claim dismissed in its entirety, the High Court effectively shut the claimant out of Nyachae’s estate, clearing the way for the succession process to proceed without her involvement.
