The ex-wife of Fidel Odinga, the elder son of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has come out to claim the deceased husband's financial assets that are in the custody of a local bank.
The announcement was made by the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority through a gazette notice dated Friday, October 17, in which Lwam Getachew Bekelle, Fidel's widow, applied to be an administrator of the husband's unclaimed finances.
Fidel's name emerged among a list of people whose assets had received an acting administrator. An administrator in this context is a person appointed to manage the wealth or assets left behind by the person who passed away.
The administrator must first follow a specific procedure before being allowed to take care of the person's wealth. They must first fill out forms and obtain a letter of no objection from the beneficiaries of the deceased.
Following Bekelle's move to apply for the custody of Fidel's assets, the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority issued a 30-day notice for any individual to file a counterclaim against Fidel's wife.
According to the Authority, if there is a failure to receive an objection against Getachew Bekelle's application within the next 30 days, the assets will be handed to her.
"The Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority has received claims for unclaimed assets from the following persons claiming as administrators of the estates of deceased persons and agents of the original owners," read part of the notice.
It went on to add, "Unless an objection to the claims is lodged at the offices of the Authority at the address below within thirty (30) days from the date hereof, payment will be made to the aforementioned person."
Fidel married his Eritrean partner, Lwam Bekele, in 2012 in a wedding ceremony attended by close family members, relatives and friends. In 2013, they had a child together.
However, barely two years after the lavish wedding, the couple announced their divorce. Before his marriage to Bekele, Fidel initially married Veronica Wanjiru.
Following his divorce from Bekele in 2014, it is not yet clear whether Fidel remarried. He later passed away in January 2015 under mysterious circumstances.
The 42-year-old's body was found lying at his home in Nairobi, sparking minor protests in the capital and in Kisumu. He was considered a potential successor of his father, who also passed away last week on Wednesday, October 15.
