Two Sisters, Dead Husband and a Battle for Millions

In December 2014, Faith Njeri married the husband of her late sister who had died in a car accident in Machakos in a move that went against the norms of her community.

The secret love affair had shocked both her friends and family, particularly in Kahawa Sukari, Kiambu County, where her sister Mercy Wanjiku and her husband Evan Murimi Mathenge were well-known figures. Prior to her sister's death, Njeri had lived in a rented apartment in Kasarani, Nairobi. Mathenge was a wealthy businessman who also worked as a researcher for the Centre for Disease Control at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, a part-time lecturer at three local universities, and a consultant for the World Health Organisation (WHO). He had vast wealth, including motor vehicles, land, property, shares in listed companies, and a significant pension.

The Law Courts in Kiambu and Nyeri have been involved in a legal case regarding Joyce Muthoni, Mathenge's sister and an employee of KMRI Tabitha Muthoni. The two women were arrested for plotting to acquire Mathenge's death certificate falsely. This was in a bid to inherit his pension and extensive investments and begin the succession process. According to Njeri, the case has severally been withdrawn despite numerous attempts to have it listed for hearing or mention. Mathenge was a wealthy man with a pension of almost Sh10 million at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, prime land in Kahawa Sukari worth Sh45 million, and assets worth Sh419 million.

The children of Mathenge and Wanjiku have contested Njeri's claim as the legal wife of their late father, stating that they do not recognize her as their father's wife. However, the court nullified the order granted to Muthoni who was named as the respondent in the case after Njeri's lawyer argued that the order was based on fraudulent and forged documents and was flawed. Njeri asserts that she is the legal wife of her late husband and that no objections were raised to their union while he was alive. She confirms having signed the burial permit of her husband and has been paying school fees for the two children left behind by her husband and sister.