Kenya: Wanjiru’s Mother Wants Lawyer Out of Burial Case

Wanjiru Macharia

9 June 2011

Nairobi — The court drama surrounding the death and burial of marathoner Samuel Wanjiru took a new twist Thursday after his mother sought orders to have the defence lawyer disqualify himself from the burial case.

Ms Hannah Wanjiru said it was unethical for lawyer Wahome Ndegwa, who used to represent her son in criminal matters, to appear for his wife Terezah Njeri in the dispute over his burial.

Through her lawyer Wilfred Konosi, Ms Wanjiru noted that Ms Njeri was the complainant in the criminal suit against her son, which was before a Nyahururu court.

Mr Konosi told Justice Anyara Emukule that Mr Ndegwa had lot of information about the athlete and his estate, thus making Ms Wanjiru uncomfortable with his representation.

He gave the court an affidavit that was sworn before lawyer Ndegwa by the marathoner and his wife, Njeri, to enable her change her surname.

He also annexed another affidavit sworn before the same lawyer stating that Ms Njeri was the late athlete’s only wife.

“It is unethical for a lawyer to act in a case whereby he is likely to be called as a witness and going by the aforementioned affidavits, Mr Ndegwa might be a witness in this case,” Mr Konosi argued.

He said there would be no prejudice suffered by Ms Njeri if she was not represented by the lawyer.

He added that given Mr Ndegwa’s knowledge of the family, he should not act for any of the parties.

“As a good officer of the court, Mr Ndegwa should disqualify himself from the case for the sake of justice,” he observed.

But Mr Ndegwa dismissed the application, saying, it was filed in bad faith and as a ploy to delay the burial, which was set for this Saturday.

He admitted that he was acting for the fallen athlete, but not after his death and was therefore not barred by law to represent his wife.

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