How Raila, Oburu almost missed inheritance in name row

 

The late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga PHOTO:COURTESY

Former Vice President Oginga Odinga’s two first names almost caused his family to lose out on a loan that ought to have developed the land he had left them after his death.

The Standard can reveal that the grant was given in the name of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga whereas the name on the title deed was Ajuma Oginga Odinga.

These different names made the Agricultural Finance Corporation decline to release the loan to the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his brother nominated Senator Oburu Odinga, who were administrators of the estate.

Amendment sought

The loan offer, according to the application exclusively seen by The Standard, was to lapse within 30 days.

Appearing before the court for the Odinga family, lawyer Benjamin Aggrey Okuom made an application to have the issue resolved through “an amendment of the grant of representation and certificate of confirmation”.

“The deceased’s estate badly requires the loan for development and improvement of some of the agricultural land constituting it,” he said.

Raila and Oburu, in support of the application, told the court they were not aware that their father had registered a different name on the title before he died.

They said they only found out after banks released the titles they were holding as security to loans that their father had taken.

The two produced a copy of North Sakwa land in support of their claim. This land measuring 56 hectares (140 acres) was bought by their father in 1973. There were other pieces of land registered under his name and they shared these, as well as an undisclosed amount of money held in banks and shares in terms of percentage.

Raila and Oburu each received four per cent of their late father’s wealth as did their two mothers Susan Agik Oginga and Betty Rosa Oginga.

Agik and Rosa, according to the affidavit before the court, were young women by the time the former powerful politician died. Agik was 35 while Rosa was older by one year at 36.

In fact Raila and Oburu were older than their step mothers by 13 years and 14 years.

Born in 1912, Jaramogi is said to have married five wives, Mary Ajuma, Gaudentia and a third one known to the family and neighbours only as Nyar Uyoma. Rosa and Agik were his fourth and fifth wives.

His first wife, Ajuma, bore him nine children namely Oburu, Raila, the late Agola, Wenwa, Beryl Achieng, Ruth Adhiambo, the late Odima, Shadrack Osewe and Erick Odhiambo.

In the court papers, only the fourth and fifth wives were indicated as dependants. Other children indicated were Dr Wenwa Akinyi, Carolyn Akinyi, Isaac Oburu, Emily Ayango, Albert Adur, Wilson Ating’a and Corazon Aquino.

No will

Others who got a four per cent share include Wenwa, Achieng, Osewe, Ruth and Akinyi. The biggest beneficiaries of Jaramogi were his two youngest sons (Ating’a and Adur) and two daughters (Corazon and Anyango) who got 11 per cent of the estate.

In 1996, Corazon was the youngest at eight years of age, followed by Ating’a who was 9 then Adur who was 10. Adhiambo closed the Odinga’s teenage bracket at 16 years.

Court documents show that at the time of his death, the former vice president had a Sh10 million debt. This had however, been paid by the time his children moved to court seeking letters of administration.

Because Odinga did not have a written will by the time he died, the court records are minus the last wishes of the deceased.