The widow of the late Cabinet Minister and KANU loyalist, John Joseph Kamotho, has decried struggling following a court battle pitting her against their children over the billionaire's vast estate.
Eunice Wambui sought the court's approval to sell a house in Nairobi valued at Ksh82 million in order to cater for her daily upkeep.
The widow told the court that at the moment she could not afford to finance her medical expenses since she has been confined to a wheelchair for over 10 years.
Further, she revealed that she was unable to pay her workers and security, adding that the money from the sale of the house would be a big boost to her lifestyle.
Wambui also wants to purchase a specialized vehicle costing about Ksh2,680,000, which she needs due to her inability to freely move around.
Justice Aggrey Muchelule agreed to the sale of the property and ordered that half of the sale proceeds be shared equally among the four children of the late politician while the other half goes to Wambui.
The Judge also refused opposition raised by two of the children, who had argued that the estate was being intermeddled with and they wanted the widow to account to the beneficiaries.
“Be it as it may, I consider that the widow was married to Kamotho for many years. This can be evidenced by the fact that the children were between 48 and 37 years of age when the case was filed in 2017. She was then 71 years old. She is now about 76 years. She is sickly and in a wheelchair,” stated Justice Muchelule.
“The couple educated their children who are now pursuing professional careers. They will certainly each benefit from the estate when the grant is finally confirmed.”
He stated that the conflict was a specific one which had remained unresolved since 2017 due to the disagreement between the widow and her two children.
“I also considered that this apparently straightforward case has remained unresolved since 2017, largely because of a lack of understanding between the widow and the respondents (two of her children).
"There is no telling whether coming the day of hearing of the application for confirmation of the grant, there won’t be a twist of some kind,” Justice Muchelule stated.
“It is quite unfortunate that the widow who was once normal but is now confined to a wheelchair says that she needs to buy a specialized vehicle to ferry her around, but the respondents say that, according to them, that is not necessary. That must be very painful for her.”
