A court in Nairobi has allowed an application to have parties in the late Fidel Odinga’s property row settle the matter out of court.
In his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Aggrey Muchelule allowed Phoebe Akinyi Ogweno, the mother of 4-year-old twins allegedly sired by the late Fidel, enjoined in the dispute pitting Fidel Odinga’s mother Ida and her daughter-in-law Lwam Bekele, Fidel’s widow.
Justice Muchelule gave the parties 14 days to settle the matter out of court failure to which the court will be forced to hear and give its orders in the matter.
The court heard that Lwam’s lawyer had reached out to Akinyi in a bid to give dialogue a chance in settling the dispute.
Akinyi had opposed the Cout’s directive to have DNA tests conducted to determine her children’s paternity.
Read: Court Orders DNA Test For Twins In Late Fidel Odinga Property Row
Lwam, who only had one child with the deceased, is opposed to Ida’s idea of having the twins, a boy and a girl, listed as Fidel’s dependants saying the two were born six months after Fidel’s death.
“The petitioner has deliberately failed to include and provide or otherwise show the intention of providing for the said minors hence a red flag on her intentions,” Ida said in her application.
Lwam had applied for a grant of representation to allow her to run a multi-million estate left behind, after the death of her husband on January 4, 2015. Fidel reportedly died without a will.
The estate in question comprises of Karen home, three parcels of land, two Range Rovers, a Nissan Sunny and a Mercedes Benz, and seven bank accounts.
Read Also: The Standard Mysteriously Pulls Down Story On Ida Odinga Property Row With Late Fidel’s Widow
Ida teamed up with her daughter Winnie to challenge Lwam’s application in court saying the children deserve to be listed as dependants on late Fidel’s property.
The duo noted that Lwam had cut communication with the Odinga’s after she fled her matrimonial home in Tipuana Park in Karen, Nairobi immediately after the deceased was buried.
“That even though the death of the deceased remained a mystery and efforts were made to establish what suddenly transpired, the petitioners herein, kept off from the family,” Ida and Winnie said in a joint affidavit.
Read Also: Ida Odinga Tears Into McDonald Mariga Over Kibra Candidature [Video]
On her part, the widow claims the Odinga family is not supporting her son and disputes claims he has dropped from school.
She added that she co-owned the property in question with Fidel.
“Upon the deceased’s demise, the property automatically reverted to my ownership. It, therefore, does not form part of the deceased’s estate,” Lwam argues.
Lwam, however, said she does not have a problem accepting the minors as beneficiaries of her late husband’s estate if it is proved they are his children.
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