Woman who claims Mark Too sired son seeks to stop burial

Fatuma Ramadhan Hassan

In death just as in life, controversy continued to stalk one of Kenya’s most charismatic politicians, Mark Too, Wednesday.

Just a day after his lawyer, Simon Lilan, sensationally claimed in Eldoret that the politician had been murdered, a woman who claims she has a son with the deceased obtained court orders stopping the burial scheduled for Monday next week.

Fatuma Ramadhan Hassan, in an application certified urgent by the High Court in Nairobi, wants the remains of the politician, who died on New Year's eve, to be preserved until her 16-year-old son is included in the funeral arrangements.

Elsewhere in Eldoret, lawyer Simon Lilan continued his campaign to demand justice for Mr Too, whom he claims was assassinated.

Wednesday, he said there was a plot to eliminate Too's widow, Mary, in an alleged conspiracy to steal his vast resources.

Mr Lilan urged the Government to institute an inquest so that the public would know what really happened.

"This is not a joke. Just as I said before, there is a meticulous plan to execute Mrs Mary Too just as her husband was executed. The Government must tell us what really happened (to Too)," he said.

In Nairobi, the court directed that Ms Ramadhan's case would be heard on January 6.

She has already obtained orders blocking Too's widows, Sophie and Mary, and Lee Funeral Home, from burying Too's remains pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

Ramadhan accused Too's widows of "deliberately and maliciously excluding her son from participating in his father's funeral arrangements".

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

Biological father

Ramadhan claims Too was the undisputed biological father of her son, who therefore has a right to bury him.

She alleges that in view of the "likely tumultuous, psychological and mental torture" the minor may face, the court ought to make a finding in his favour.

The woman also wants the court to stop the distribution of Too's vast estate, and is demanding an immediate lump sum payment of the minor's school fees pending the hearing and determination of the suit.

Too died on December 31 at Eldoret's St Luke's Hospital where he was rushed in critical condition.

On Tuesday, funeral organising committee chairman Jacob Yego announced that the former MP would be buried at his Eldoret home next Monday.

In her application, Ramadhan claimed that on March 16, 1991, she was involved in a short sexual liaison with Too immediately after her separation from her husband, resulting in the birth of her son. She attached a copy of the boy's birth certificate in the court papers and is represented by lawyer Danson Omari.

"(Too) 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 discharge (them)," she said in the court papers.

Prior to Too's death, he had been catering for the boy's clothes, entertainment and school fees, she told Justice Muchelule.

She learnt of Too's death through the media, and persistent attempts to reach his relatives on behalf of her son had been unsuccessful, she said.

And back in Eldoret, Lilan revealed that on the day Too died, he visited the family home at around 8pm and found Mary gasping for breath.

"I found her outside the house and shockingly, some family members wanted to pour water on her. She is hypertensive and pouring water on a person in such a condition is suicidal. There were no plans to take her to hospital," he said.

He disputed the Government pathologist's report that indicated Too had died of an aneurysm – a condition where the artery supplying blood to the brain bursts.

Independent expert

"We need an independent postmortem for us to rest easy, but for now I will not accept the report. The truth about what killed him will never be known if there is no independent examination by an independent expert devoid of influence from any quarters," he said.

Too's family, however, dismissed the advocate's claims, saying "he is not in any way related to the family" and had no capacity to speak on their behalf. They said the remarks should be treated "with contempt". Christopher, Too's elder brother, accused the advocate of disrespecting the family as they mourned.

"If he was talking about something he knows about the death, he would have been accompanied by family members. We are content with the chief Government pathologist's report," said the older Too.