The sister of the murdered Dutch tycoon Tob Cohen now wants the court to stop Sarah Wairimu from using the surname applications in which she used the name Cohen.
In an application filed in court yesterday, Gabriel Van Straten also opposed the widow, inheriting anything from the tycoon’s estate.
She argues Wairimu should not use her brother’s name in her documents, claiming that Sarah Wairimu Cohen does not exist and is an untrue person.
In line with section 96 of the succession Act, her in-law is not entitled to any share in the estate.
“The applications filed before this court as far and to the extent that they have been filed by one Sarah Wairimu Kamotho Cohen, are incompetent and untenable in the eyes of the law for having been filed by a fictitious person and a person unknown to the law and to us,” reads court papers.
Through lawyer Danstan Omari, Gabriel says says the couple had a strained relationship and at the time of his death her husband wanted a divorce.
Straten highlights for the duration Wairimu was married to Cohen, she never adopted any of his names and never opted to change her name by way of a deed poll as is required by law.
“Thus, the reference of herself as Sarah Wairimu Kamotho Cohen in the various applications filed before court is meant to confuse the court by obscuring the mind of the court and seeking unnecessary sympathy or empathetic treatment from court,” Gabriel says.
She further claims that using Cohen’s name is also meant to make a mockery of the man and the family of the man she is accused to have brutally murdered and concealed his remains in an underground water tank.
Gabriel has also asked the court to compel Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti to submit a report by way of affidavit documenting the findings of investigations relating to the authenticity of the will made by Cohen on April 30, 2019.
The will has been contested by Wairimu who claims that she has the original will different from the one that was opened by the family lawyer after Cohen’s death.
She has also accused her sister-in-law of altering the original will that was allegedly forged.
Omari says they have written to the DCI in pursuit of the truth as to the veracity of the reckless averments made by Wairimu claiming that the will opened was fake but have not received any response.
“Further in order to establish from the investigative agency whether they are privy to the impugned will and whether they have interrogated Emmanuel Kenga and investigated the matter to no success as the applicant’s communication remains unresponded to despite numerous reminders,” reads court papers.
She says that the need to compel the DCI to bring the report is in order for him to debunk or corroborate the myriad accusations made regarding the contested will.
The tycoon died in Nairobi between July20 and September 23 2019and his widow is in of the people accused of his murder, his body was found in a septic tank at his lower Kabete home.
