Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe alias K-Lynn tricked late billionaire husband Reginald Mengi To leave his entire wealth to her.
The late tycoon bequeathed all of his property to K-Lynn in a will that is now the subject of a bitter court battle.
According the will that Mengi left behind when he died, K-Lynn and her twin children – Jayden Kihoza Mengi and Ryan Saashisha Mengi inherited everything the late tycoon owned leaving nothing for the children he has with his first wife Mercy Mengi.
Mengi had an estimated net worth of about $560 million or Ksh63 billion. He was the founder of the IPP Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate involved in several businesses.
The Tanzanian tycoon died on May 2nd 2019 at the age 75 while undergoing treatment in Dubai.
He left behind his wife K-Lynn and four children. Mengi had divorced his first wife Mercy Mengi who passed away in November 2018.
Mengi married K-Lynn in a colorful wedding held in Mauritius on March 28th 2015. They were blessed with twin sons for the four years they were married.
The death of Mengi brought a bitter conflict between his window K-Lynn and his children from his first marriage.
According the will that Mengi left behind when he died, K-Lynn and her twin children inherited everything the late tycoon owned leaving nothing for the children he had with his first wife Mercy Mengi.
Many people questioned the will since Mengi was known to be a philanthropist. Why would he deny his own children his inheritance yet he used to give total strangers millions through charity?
Mengi’s children from his first marriage were quick to file a suit in court challenging the will which bequeathed all of his property to his widow.
Investigations done by his children found out that the Miss Tanzania 2000 changed the billionaire’s will to bequeath herself and her twin sons all property owned by Mengi.
In 2019, the High Court in Dar es Salaam appointed Abdiel and Benjamin trustees of the estate after they objected the legitimacy of Mengi’s will that had named other people as trustees.
In March 2021, the High Court, Dar es Salaam, overturned Mengi’s final will after rejecting an application by four people who wanted the court to prove they were the executors of the late businessman’s estate.
Mengi’s son Abdiel Reginald Mengi (the billionaire’s son from his first wife) and Benjamin Abraham Mengi (the tycoon’s brother) successfully petitioned the High Court to declare illegal the will that gave K-Lynn all of Mengi’s property.
Judge Yose Mlyambina agreed with Mengi’s children and rescinded the will that was allegedly written by their father.
Mengi’s son and brother convinced High Court that their late tycoon had lost the ability to write legitimate wills due to the health problems he was facing at the time.
The court was satisfied that there was enough evidence that the late billionaire had suffered a stroke since October 2016 and did not recover until he died in May 2019.
“This means that his ability to think and make good decisions was affected and he was unable to understand the meaning of the right decision to manage his estate,” the High Court said.
K-Lynn capitalized on Mengi deteriorating health to change the original will and came up with another will that granted her and her sons all of the property the late billionaire owned.
Following the defeat in High Court, K-Lynn moved to the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the decision by the lower court.
The retired Bongo singer filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal, seeking to review and overturn the High Court’s decision to set aside her husband’s will.
K-Lynn wants everything for herself and her twin sons, she doesn’t want Mengi’s other children to inherit anything their late father owned.
The former beauty queen is petitioning Court of Appeal to overrule High Court and declare the will, which had handed her all the tycoon’s property, as the only legitimate will.
However, Mengi’s son and brother are determined to fight back. They protested against the widow’s request at the Court of Appeal.
In one of their submissions in court, Mengi’s elder children argued that K-Lynn had no legitimacy to challenge a High Court decision by requesting a review at the Court of Appeal instead of an appeal.
They also claimed that her application was not legally valid because it did not have the necessary accompanying documents.
However, the Court of Appeals dismissed the objection, stating that since K-Lynn was not a party to the High Court case, she was eligible to file a review in the court.
The court further stated that even the shortcomings identified in K-Lynn’s application had no effect on the case she filed, thus giving permission for the case to be heard.
The Court of Appeal heard the arguments by Mengi’s kin, on April 21st 2022 gave K-Lynn a lifeline when it ruled that her application against a High Court decision should be heard.
The Court of Appeal will determine the legitimacy of Mengi’s will and the legitimacy of Abdiel and Benjamin to be the trustees of Mengi’s estate.
Jacqueline and her sons will now be required to convince the Court of Appeal why it should overturn the High Court ruling that nullified her husband’s will.
The Court of Appeal is the highest court in the hierarchy of judiciary in Tanzania. The decision will determine whether K-Lynn will walk away with Mengi’s billions all to herself or if she will split it with Mengi’s children from his first marriage.
