Personal Finance

For Samuel Wanjiru’s widow, it’s time to focus on long-term gains

kamau

The late Samuel Wanjiru and his wife Teresiah Njeri. For Ms Njeri, the battle for the empire has just started. File

I was relieved to see the drama surrounding the burial of Samuel Wanjiru come to an end and to read that he had been buried in relative tranquillity. However, from my experience with family issues, especially where large sums of money are involved, this only marks the end of the beginning; there is much more drama to come in the near future.

I would like to share with the young widow, Ms Teresiah Njeri some observations on waging war, for this is what it is or will very soon become, in the family setting.

First of all, allow me to say how impressed I am with your new look. I was getting quite concerned about the images I kept seeing of you hanging limply at the side of your relatives.

While that may have had the effect of communicating the grief of losing a husband, it also conveyed an sense of helplessness which is not useful when engaging in war.

Now that you have buried Samuel, I caution you not to get too full of yourself. This victory was only a matter of course and not a result of you or your attorney’s brilliance in the courtroom.

Be humble and celebrate quietly, if you must. Thereafter, put all your focus on the battle ahead.

Decide what it is that defines victory for you and your children. Do not, no matter what your closest advisers may say to you, aspire to get everything i.e. the entire value of Samuel’s estate.

Not that I have anything against you. Please remember that the man was, in your own admission (if newspaper accounts are to be believed), a known philanderer. The possibility that he may have fathered children with other women is likely and must be taken into consideration. Remember that his mother might also has a legitimate interest in the distribution of the estate and that all these dependants must be factored into any settlement you may reach.

Ms Njeri, do not waste your time fighting for property that exists in the public’s imagination i.e. reports that value Samuel’s estate at hundreds of millions of shillings or stories by his friends and “close associates”. Focus all your energy and attention on what you know Samuel had acquired.

Having been one of the people closest to him, acquaint yourself with details of the property that you are confident he owned and confine yourself to that. Whatever else comes to light at later stages will be a bonus to you and his other dependants.

As far as possible, let your definition of victory include terms of settlement that you would be willing to live with if you were on the other side of the bargaining table. Do not propose terms to humiliate the other party or, worse still, make them desperate.

This may turn them into long-term enemies; a situation you do not need at this time. Remain open to negotiation, no matter how distasteful you may find the process.

I realise that you chose your attorney with great. However, I will caution you to do a bit of reading on your own. Research about previous cases involving widows in similar situations to yours i.e. those cohabiting with a man who dies intestate and leaves children conceived outside the relationship.

The rulings in these cases are in the public domain and should inform your decisions from this point.

The benefit of taking such action is that you will differentiate what is possible/feasible from what is impossible.

Expert advice

While courts are confined to act within the law or to follow precedence, lawyers, yours being no exception, are trained to follow the instructions of their paying clients, no matter how unreasonable they may be.

All they offer you, as the client, is expert advice on which you can choose to act or ignore. No matter how brilliant your lawyer may appear or sound to you, remember that his expert opinion is just that; an opinion. It is not leadership.

Ms Njeri, please remember not to burn bridges unnecessarily. Samuel is dead. You and the children have to continue to live. You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your relatives. See to it that the solution you aspire to brings his people together. Remember that Samuel belonged to them before he belonged to you. Seek the path that promises you long-term peace even though you have to sacrifice short-term gains.

The half you hold in your hand in peace today may be worth much more than the whole you may hold in turmoil for years to come.