A woman is fighting for control of the estate of a senior military officer who died last year after a paternity test confirmed he is the father of her child.
A woman is fighting for control of the estate of a senior military officer who died last year after a paternity test confirmed he is the father of her child.
Col Flavian Mwangi, who served as Commandant of the Kenya Air Force Training Wing at Moi Airbase in Eastleigh, Nairobi, was found dead in his car shortly after leaving the camp at 4pm on September 26, 2024.
The entrance to the Moi Air Base in Nairobi.
His death triggered a scramble for his property after a woman came forward insisting she was his second wife because he had fathered her seven-year-old child.
Col Mwangi’s burial was marred by controversy after the woman sought to block it, accusing the widow, a mother of three, including a school-going minor, of sidelining her son in funeral plans.
The woman successfully persuaded the court to order a DNA test to prove her son’s paternity.
The results from the Government Chemist dated December 30, 2024, confirmed that her son and the widow’s three children are half-siblings, sharing a common father.
Following the adoption of the DNA report by Principal Magistrate G.M. Gitonga on February 11, 2025, the woman filed a fresh application seeking to have all financial proceeds forming part of Col Mwangi’s estate deposited into an independent court interest-earning account pending the hearing of the succession case.
Claiming to be the second widow of the late Col Mwangi, she has petitioned the court for letters of administration seeking limited powers to manage part of the estate for the benefit of her son.
She wants the current administrators compelled to provide for the child’s immediate needs including school fees, transport, rent, living expenses and accrued debts.
In her application on February 25, she is seeking limited authority to collect, receive and utilise estate funds to support her child.
In her supporting affidavit, she stated that Col Mwangi supported the child during his lifetime but that support stopped after his death, allegedly due to the widow’s interference.
She claims her son has been left to suffer while the other children continue receiving military benefits.
“There exists an urgent need for school fees and living expenses for the child making it necessary for this court to grant letters of administration ad colligenda bona to enable the collection of funds from the estate,” she stated.
She has also claimed that the KDF has already released Sh17.5 million to the widow which she fears may be spent without considering her son’s welfare. The woman had earlier secured court orders barring the Kenya Defence Forces from releasing Mwangi’s military benefits to the widow, pending the court’s determination of the rightful beneficiaries.
The case is scheduled for mention in court next Tuesday for directions.
