A mistress of the late Matungu MP Justus Murunga has hired a private property investigator to know the worth of his estate.
Agnes Wangui, through lawyer Danstan Omari, anticipates that by February 15, she will have got the register of all the properties Murunga owned.
“Once we have the register, we will be going to court in a bid to have those properties distributed equally,” Omari told the Star in an interview.
Murunga died after a short illness last November. He had no will, but his estate, according to the law, will be divided among his widows and children.
“There is no will that we know as of now, but we cannot remove the possibility of a will being brought up in court. But the law of the will is also settled.
“If the will is discriminatory, if the will has left out any of the dependants from getting what is required, if the will is for other people and not his blood relatives, then that will will be challenged,” Omari said.
Murunga left behind three widows—Christabel, Grace and Wangui. He sired children with them. Before he was buried, DNA tests were conducted on Wangui’s children after the other widows claimed Wangui is not known to them.
One test returned a negative result as it did not match Murunga’s. Omari yesterday said the child’s fate is salvaged by Section 3 (2) of the Succession Act, given that the deceased had assumed voluntary permanent responsibility over him prior to his death.
“By virtue of the deceased having assumed voluntary permanent responsibility, he qualifies as a child of the deceased and can claim his share of the estate of Murunga as a rightful beneficiary,” he said.
Omari explained that morally, his client looks like “a very bad woman”, but legally, the law provides that if one child is found to be a child of Murunga and there is evidence Murunga supported both children, then he automatically becomes a dependant under the law.
“We have the evidence with us. Murunga would buy food, buy clothes, pay the school fees. This means that child will inherit an equal share just like any other child of Murunga.”
Wangui and Murunga knew each other for seven years. Their first encounter was in 2012 when he was a supervisor at Embakasi Ranching, while Agnes was selling beverages and snacks within Sewerage area, Ruai.
Murunga would occasionally send her money. A detailed M-Pesa statement from Safaricom reveals that on November 12, less than 24 hours before he died, Murunga sent her Sh4,000.
The statement shows between January and November last year, she received Sh75,000 from Murunga for their maintenance. The children are aged seven and three.
“That alone is a clear demonstration that this was not money coming from an MP to a voter. Frequency of amount paid was for daily subsistence of his children,” Omari said.
Omari also defended his client, saying she was not lying when she said both children were Murunga’s.
“If she was lying, she could not have gone to a scientific test. She knows very well that a DNA testing is perfect. The mere fact that she subjected this child and told the whole world these children belong to Murunga vindicates her.”
Omari explained that at the time the first child was born, the relationship had not picked. It was on and off.
“The mistress never lied. Simple biology tells you that conception after sex takes place within 48 hours. So if you have multiple relationships within the 48 hours, any of that person they had contact with could be the father.”
Omari also said there is a possibility the child could have been switched at the hospital he was born but they decided to abandon measures of filing a court case since the law already recognises that child as a dependant.
Meanwhile, lawyer Stephen Lutta for the other two widows, said he had yet to receive any instructions regarding the estate issue. He said there has been no further action from their end since Murunga was buried but they will respond at the appropriate time.
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