Court in Murang’a has denied a woman inheritance of a dead man’s land arguing that she’s not a wife but a domestic nurse

A woman claiming to have been married to a Murang’a businessman under Gikuyu customary law has been barred from inheriting the man’s property by the High Court. Loyce Wangari Ngigi claimed to have been married to Stephen Ngigi Karwigi who died in August 2013 leaving behind a construction firm and over 40 landed properties that generate income. 

High Court judge Justice Kanyi Kimondo dismissed her claim on grounds that there was no meaningful or proper celebration of a Gikuyu customary marriage between her and the deceased. “There was no cohabitation with habit and repute. The relationship between the protestor and the deceased did not reach the threshold of a marriage either by custom or presumption,” Kanyi ruled. Wangari told the court she married Ngigi in 2009 and that he visited her parent’s home in Elburgon, Nakuru for payment of KSh 30,000 in dowry in 2012. According to her, the deceased bought and gifted her parents with two pieces of land in Nakuru during the visit. 

However, Kanyi argued that although there was no contest that Wangari lived with Ngigi until he died, she did not provide concrete evidence to show the relationship mutated into a marriage. “No reliable evidence was marshalled to show that the relationship metamorphosed into a marriage. They had no children together or any joint assets,” he said. The judge also pointed out that no evidence was adduced indicating the man’s family, friends and community treated her as his wife. Wangari also wanted the deceased estate distributed equally between her and the household of Ngigi’s first wife who died in March 2003. In his ruling, Kanyi said the woman first entered the deceased’s homestead to give him care as he was diabetic and an amputee. He also said the evidence before the court showed Ngigi only visited Wangari’s homestead once and the customary marriage process was never completed even though she adopted his last name. 

“It is possible that the deceased may have asked for the protestor’s hand in marriage in his twilight years,” said Kanyi. “But I find that all the requisite stages of a Gikuyu customary marriage, including ruracio and ngurario, were not carried out in this case,” he added. 

Further, the court stated Wangari’s witnesses in court were her blood relatives only and that she failed to provide an independent witness to prove the celebration of a customary marriage. The witnesses – the woman’s mother and brother, insisted she was Ngigi’s wife and that the care to the deceased when he was unwell was incidental but the judge found loopholes in their accounts. Wangari stated the two plots in Elburgon were part of the dowry while her mother said they were mere gifts and the court held that it was inconceivable that dowry could be paid to the bride. 

“This is material since the properties were jointly owned by the mother and the daughter who was the one being betrothed,” said the judge. Ngigi’s daughter, Faith Wangui Ngigi, told the court that the funeral programme used as evidence in court was prepared by Wangari’s friends.