Woman claiming to be Mark Too's lover seeks to stop his burial

The late Kanu nominated MP Mark Too. (Photo: Peter Ochieng/Standard)

A woman who claims to have been a lover of the late former nominated MP Mark Too Wednesday moved to the High Court in Nairobi seeking to stop his burial set for January 9.

Fatuma Ramadhan Hassan, in an application certified urgent by the court, wants the remains of Too to be preserved until the court orders his family to allow her 16-year-old son that the late veteran politician allegedly sired with her is included in the funeral arrangements.

In the case that will be heard on January 6, Fatuma, who has sued Too's widows Sofi and Mary and Lee Funeral Home, wants the court to restrain Lee Funeral Home from releasing Too's remains to his wives pending hearing and determination of the dispute.

"The respondents (Sofi and Mary) have been spearheading the funeral and burial arrangements of the deceased to the exclusion of the minor. Excluding the minor from participating in his father's final sendoff amounts to discrimination and such acts should be frowned upon as it is against the Constitution," she told Justice Aggrey Muchelule.

She accuses Too's widows of deliberately and maliciously excluding her son from participating in the funeral arrangements of his father.

Fatuma claims that Too is the undisputed biological father of her son and as such he has a right to bury him. She alleges that in view of the likely tumultuous, psychological and mental torture that the minor may face, the court ought to make a finding in his favour.

She also wants the court to stop the distribution of Too's vast estate and has requested the court to order immediate and lumpsum payment of the minor's school fees pending hearing and determination of the suit.

Fatuma moved to court barely a day after the late Too's Funeral Organising Committee chairman Jacob Yego announced that the former MP will be buried on Monday at his Eldoret home.

"He will be buried at his home in Eldoret near Moi International Airport on Monday,'' Yego told the press on Tuesday.

Wednesday, in a sworn affidavit, Fatuma through lawyer Dunstan Omari said that in 1991 she was involved in a short sexual liaison with Too immediately she got separated from her husband. She says that as a consequence of their brief relationship on March 16 2000 she was blessed with the son whose copy of birth certificate she has attached in the court papers.

"The deceased refused and neglected his parental responsibilities and I was forced to file a child support case in 2011 in order to obtain court orders compelling him to maintain and discharge his parental responsibilities," Fatuma states in the court papers.

Fatuma told Justice Muchelule that prior to Too's untimely death he had been maintaining the minor by catering for his clothes, entertainment and school fees among others.

She says she learnt about Too's death through the media and persistent attempts to reach his relatives including his two wives on behalf of the minor have been unsuccessful.

The late Too died on January 1 at St Luke's Hospital in Eldoret where he had been rushed in critical condition.