How Mwai Kibaki met my mother: Jacob Ocholla says 3rd Kenyan president was his father

Jacob Ocholla Mwai, who is seeking to prove that former President Mwai Kibaki was his biological father, has opened up on the intimate discussions he had with the former president.

Ocholla recounted that he grew up knowing and interacting with the former president as a neighbour and a close family friend until when later, Kibaki confirmed that he was Ocholla's biological father.

The revelation came on the evening of June 21, 1982 after a five-hour meeting during which Ocholla maintains that the then-vice president confirmed himself as Ocholla's birth father.

Explaining why he had to wait until after Kibaki’s death, the 62-year-old said: “Many people are curious and are asking why I’m coming out now; it’s because I was honoring my late father’s wish. It was the most shocking thing I had ever heard. The news left me distraught and with so many unanswered questions…All along I had grown up knowing that I was a Luo, only to realise that I was not.”

In a recent interview, Ocholla narrated that Kibaki insisted that when the time to marry comes, he should marry from the Kikuyu community, a wish that he complied with.

“One thing that my father insisted on is that I marry a Kikuyu woman,” he stated.

How Kibaki met my mother - Ocholla Mwai

The hotelier recounted that Kibaki first met his mother in Makerere where she was visiting Hillary Ocholla who would become her husband and whom Jacob now considers his stepfather.

Hillary was the founding managing director of Bomas of Kenya. Kibaki and Hillary were also neighbours in Nairobi and shared the same circle of friends in the elite post-independence African class.

“Kibaki addressed me by name. Remember, he was a close associate of my adopted father, both having been students at Makerere. Indeed it is in Uganda that he met my mother when she was visiting my adopted father, Ocholla. At one time, the two were even neighbours at Bahati Estate, Nairobi,” Ocholla recounted.

Inheritance, will and paternity

Ocholla narrated that the former president had assured him a portion of inheritance in his Will, admitting that meeting Kibaki after he ascended to the Presidency became a huge challenge.

The hotelier has since moved to court seeking to know if the former Head of State bequeathed anything to him, maintaining that he is ready for DNA test and will accept the outcome of the same.

“I’ll accept the outcome of the DNA results…This is an embarrassing situation to be in but if it reaches a certain point and they say they want a DNA test I am ready for that. I am ready for them to exhume the remains of my dad and test me. I am ready for that.

“I was never able to get through his minders when he became President. After his retirement, I made numerous attempts to visit him at his Muthaiga home when he was ailing without success," he narrated.

Keen to trace his roots, he visited Kibaki’s sister, Esther Waitherero who studied him and declared that “Ũyũ nĩ witũ”, a Kikuyu utterance which when translated means, "he is one of us". Waitherero, deceased at age 115, was buried on July 22, 2022.