Estate Dispute Between Widow and Her Mother-In-Law

The High Court of Kenya “has ordered the widow of lateInternal Security Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode to deposit Sh20 million deathbenefits she was awarded by the National Assembly.” JusticeLuka Kimaru directed Mary Ojode to deposit the money into an account within aday’s time. The reason that the judge gave for this order was because Ms. Ojodeis in an estate dispute with her mother-in-law over late-husband’s assets. Thejudge stated that the failure to do so could result in her being held incontempt of court. This came after a court noted that Ms. Ojode had failed tocomply with an earlier court order to receive a full list of her late-husband’sassets. 

Justice Kimaru has also declared Orwa Ojode’s mother, UldaAloo Ojode, as a dependent of his estate and ordered that the letters ofadministration be delivered to Mary. The court also issued an order that wouldrequire the attorneys of both his widow and his mother to figure out how muchMary should be entitled to maintenance. Mary rejected his mother’s allegationsand claimed that only her and her son are beneficiaries of Orwa’s estate.

See Lucianne Limo, Ojode Widow Told To Deposit Sh20mBenefits, Standard Digital, Mar. 13, 2013.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this to my attention.