• The investigation done by a private investigator for the Nyachae family, said Margaret Chweya has had four husbands, none of which were the powerful cabinet minister.
• It was supported by affidavits by two of the said men, who said they were married to Chweya at some point in their lives.
Image: FILE
A probe into the identity and marital history of a woman claiming to be wife to late Cabinet minister Simeon Nyachae has revealed that she was married to other men before, a probe done by the family claims.
The investigation done by a private investigator for the Nyachae family said Margaret Chweya has had four husbands in the past.
It was supported by affidavits by two of the said men, who said they were married to Chweya at some point in their lives.
Both documents, which are in connection to the ongoing court battle for Nyachae's wealth approximated at Sh2.05 billion estate empire, have been filed before a High Court judge.
Commenting on the investigation, the minister's son Leon Nyachae said the same was commissioned by the family estate executors who include Charles Nyachae, Angela Nyachae and Eric Nyachae.
He said this was done between May 5, 2022, and February 15, 2023, with the assistance of a consultancy firm in the country and a US-based investigative company.
"The mandate given to both the Kenya investigator and the USA investigator was to establish who the first applicant (Chweya) really was and more it relates to her family situation that is, whether she was married, whom she was married to when she was married, whether she had children and when she got children," Leon said, according to the Standard on June 29, 2023.
The findings said two of Chweya's alleged husbands live in Kenya Jacob Machuki Mokaya and Michael Pondo Migowa.
"The above said two husbands to wit; Jacob Machuki Mokaya and Michael Pondo are residents in Kenya and were so resident even at the time of their respective marriages to the first applicant," Leon added.
The other two, the probe adds, who are George Gordon Odera and James Leroy Totten, live in the US.
Leon said Machuki and Chweya has a son born in 1974, Samuel Onyancha.
One of the filed affidavits belongs to Machuki who said he wedded Chweya under customary law. He adds that they went in separate ways in 1978.
Machuki also said he had no knowledge of any marital relations between his ex-wife and Nyachae.
"At no time during our marriage did the first applicant indicate that she was ever married to the Hon Simeon Nyachae and to the best of my knowledge she was never married to Hon Simeon Nyachae," Machuki said.
Further, Pondo said he and Chweya married under the Kisii customary laws and had John Paul.
He also said he had no knowledge of Chweya and Nyachae's marriage.
Pondo said John Paul's baptism card shows that he is his son by Chweya. He was baptised at Holy Family Cathedral (now Basilica) by Reverend Thomas Maegher.
Speaking to the Star a year ago, Chweya said she met Nyachae in 1973 while he worked at Jogoo house in Nairobi while she did menial jobs at the time.
She said they eventually married and had three children. Nyachae was 47 years old while she was 30 when they met.
Nyachae had five known wives and over 20 children, according to the family. The spouses included Esther Nyaboke Nyachae, the late Drusilla Kerubo Nyachae and Silvia Nyokabi whom he divorced.
Others are Martha Mwango Nyachae and Grace Wamuyu Nyachae.
But Chweya said she was the sixth wife and who jumped places to be the fourth wife.
"Because the divorced no longer counted as a wife in the Nyachae family, and others died, I jumped places to be the fourth wife," she said then.