Nakuru High Court Judge Teresia Matheka allowed a woman to submit photos to prove she was legally entitled to part of a Ksh 200 million inheritance.
Norah Atieno submitted 28 pictures to the court that she had taken with her former lover, the late Eliakim Washington Olweny, as proof of a past relationship.
Olweny’s first wife, Phelisia Akoth, who was also in possession of the photos, had opposed the presentation of the photos on the basis that they were not certified.
Akoth's lawyer cried the Evidence Act which states, "Any proceedings where it is desired to give a statement in electronic evidence, a certificate should be produced in identifying the electronic record containing the statement and describing the manner in which it was produced."
The judge, however, defended her ruling stating that certification usually applies to criminal proceedings especially if video and photographs are the main source of evidence.
Atieno added saying that some of the photographs had been taken in the 1990s and had no certification since they had not been taken electronically.
The photographs showed when the former director of Evans Sunrise Hospital, Olweny, and Atieno had spent time together in the 1990s and also their children.
The ruling came after the deceased’s son, Allan Onyango, moved to court to lock out the other two wives from the inheritance accusing them of never having been married to his father.
Based on their Christian union in 1966, Onyango proposed that the court declare Olweny as monogamous.
Atieno, in an effort to be recognized as Olweny’s second wife, said she had only discovered that ex-lover had a third wife on the day of the burial.
According to the eulogy, Atieno had been listed as Olweny’s second wife, Olweny’s ex-secretary Anne Wanjiru was his third wife, and Akoth as the first.
The renowned Nakuru businessman died in November 2016 of cancer. His wives have been in a wrangle since his demise.
