ELIUD MAINA MWANGI V. MARGARET WANJIRU GACHANGI

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

This appeal relates to the Estate of KEZIAH WANJIRU KAHIGA (deceased) of Gitugi Location, Kangema, Murang’a County, who died on 22nd September, 1993. The central question in the appeal is whether the respondent, MARGARET WANJIRU GACHANGI, was married to the late Keziah Wanjiru Kahiga in a woman-to-woman marriage under Kikuyu customary law to entitle her to a grant of letters of administration of the estate of the deceased and to inherit the deceased’s property. The protagonists are, on the one hand the deceased’s brother in law, ELIUD MAINA MWANGI, the appellant, who stakes his claim to the estate on account of the same being his brother’s, and on the other hand, Margaret Wanjiru Gachangi, the respondent, who claims to have become the “wife” of the deceased after the death of their respective husbands.

Upon the death of Keziah Wanjiru Kahiga, the respondent applied jointly with her own brother, James Waweru Gachangi for grant of letters of administration. The basis…