Woman claiming to be late tycoon’s widow declines DNA test in Ksh.200M estate case

A woman who claims to be the widow of the late Nakuru tycoon Washington Olweny now risks imprisonment over contempt of court in a Ksh.200 million estate battle.

Norah Atieno is said to have refused to obey three court orders issued by Justice Teresia Matheka to undergo a DNA test to prove that she sired a child - John Odhiambo - with the late Olweny.

The deceased’s first widow, Phelisia Akoth, and her sons Edwin Otieno and Timothy Ochieng filed applications of contempt of court against Atieno on March 24, 2022 through lawyer Wilfred Lusi.

They want the court to find Atieno guilty of contempt and sentence her to a custodial sentence of more than a year or pay a fine of Ksh.2 million.

Akoth accuses Atieno of unnecessarily antagonizing the proceedings and interfering with the succession case, further urging the court to deny the latter audience until the contempt application against her is heard and determined.

Atieno did not comply with the court orders issued on August 16, 2021, August 20, 2021, and November 15, 2021; where she was required to present herself at the government chemist laboratory in Nairobi to give a genetic sample for DNA profiling.

“Despite the objector agreeing to give samples for DNA testing, she has declined to comply with the orders on numerous occasions,” lawyer Lusi said.

Lusi consequently presented a letter from the lab, dated December 3, 2021, as proof that Atieno did not present herself for testing.

He goes on to note that Akoth went ahead to send Atieno Ksh.10,000 through her lawyer Yoni Aim for logistics and to facilitate her visit to the lab, but even after acknowledging receipt she still did not go.

Atieno’s lawyer Yoni however says she went, adding that; “Contrary to the court order that allowed four people at the lab, the media was there and other strangers, making it uncomfortable for Atieno.”

Akoth moved to court in 2017 seeking to bar Atieno and one Anne Wanjiru from accessing Olweny’s properties after the two women claimed to have been married to the deceased tycoon.

Olweny, surveyor and businessman, died intestate on November 28, 2016, leaving behind properties estimated at Ksh.200 million.

The case will be heard on June 9, 2022.