Wairimu: Why I won’t attend reading of my husband’s Will

Ms Sarah Wairimu Kamotho. She claims her husband's body could have been planted in her compound to frame her, PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • On Thursday, Mr Cohen’s family and Ms Wairimu agreed to bury him privately according to Jewish religious rites at the Jewish cemetery on Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi at 2pm.
  • Lawyers for Wairimu and the Cohen family, said they had reached a compromise on the issue to allow the deceased to get a decent burial.

The final wishes of the late Dutch businessman Tob Cohen will be read on Saturday at a private event scheduled to be held at his lawyer’s office in Nairobi, ahead of his burial scheduled for Monday.

But his widow, Ms Sarah Wairimu, a suspect in his killing, distanced herself from the event.

DISPUTED

“It is evident that the confidential nature of the will you claim to possess, or any others for the matter, has been severely compromised … she does not wish to participate in any related process,” her lawyer Philip Murgor said.

Ms Cohen was referring to a newspaper story that divulged the contents of the document, which has largely been taken to be true because the story has not been disputed. 

Mr Cohen’s will will be read before his sister Gabrielle Van Straten, Mr Bernard Cohen, and lawyer Omari Danstan Mogaka.

Kirundi & Company Advocates, which has the document, said in a letter to the parties involved: “This is to notify you that, since the body of Tob Cohen was identified at Chiromo mortuary during the autopsy process, we shall be opening the will of the late in our offices at 11.30am tomorrow in our chambers.”

Ms Wairimu identified Cohen’s body on Wednesday after a team of pathologists, led by Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor, performed a post-mortem exam.

SAMPLES

But Dr Oduor noted that the final report will take a few weeks to compile, because some samples taken from the body will be taken for further DNA, histology and toxicology tests.

Once they receive the results, each pathologist will make a report before meeting up to compile the final report, which will be used as evidence in the case.

On Thursday, Mr Cohen’s family and Ms Wairimu agreed to bury him privately according to Jewish religious rites at the Jewish cemetery on Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi at 2pm if the court grants the widow her request to participate in the ceremony.

Mr Murgor and Mr Cliff Ombeta, for the Cohen family, said they had reached a compromise on the issue to allow the deceased to get a decent burial.