Table of Contents
Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe Mengi, the widow of the late Tanzanian billionaire media tycoon Reginald Mengi, has won another obstacle in her efforts to fight for the control of the deceased’s estate after the Court of Appeal dismissed objections filed by the estate administrators.
According to the East African, Jacqueline and her two children, Jaden Kihoza Mengi and Ryan Saashisha Mengi, petitioned the Court of Appeal to examine and reject a High Court ruling annulling Mengi’s will, which had left other children out of the bequest.
The estate’s trustees, Abdiel Reginald Mengi (the billionaire’s son from his first marriage) and Benjamin Abraham Mengi (the tycoon’s brother), attempted to have the application dismissed.
The trustees urged the court to dismiss Jacqueline’s application shortly after she filed it, claiming that it had been filed illegally. They stated that the petitioners should have appealed the High Court ruling rather than filing a review application, and that they had failed to present the required documentation.
The court, however, dismissed the grounds and agreed to hear the motion for review on a day set by the court’s registrar.
Following the verdict, Abdiel submitted a new application, requesting that the court reconsider and change its decision, as well as dismiss Jacqueline and her sons’ petition for review.
The Court of Appeal, in its most recent ruling this week, dismissed all of Abdiel and Benjamin’s claims.
The authenticity of Mengi’s will, as well as Abdiel and Benjamin’s appointment as trustees of Mengi’s inheritance, will be determined by the court.
Jacqueline and her sons will now have to persuade the Court of Appeal to reverse the High Court judgement that declared her husband’s will null and void.
After challenging the authenticity of Mengi’s will, which listed other people as trustees, the High Court in Dar es Salaam appointed Abdiel and Benjamin as trustees of the estate in 2019.
Judge Yose Mlyambina agreed with Abdiel’s argument in a High Court ruling issued on May 18, 2021, and ordered that the deceased’s estate be transferred to the heirs without a will.
Jacqueline then filed an appeal of the High Court ruling, requesting that the Court of Appeal reconsider the decision and, if necessary, reverse it.
