New twist and turns in Tanzania tycoon Reginald Mengi’s will

The eldest son of the late Tanzanian billionaire Reginald Mengi wants a review of a court decision to reject his arguments against Mengi’s widow, Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe, who opposes the revocation of her husband's will.

In March 2021, the High Court in 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 and his brother Benjamin Mengi objected to the application, claiming that the will that gave Ms Ntuyabaliwe almost all Mengi's property was illegal.

Judge Yose Mlyambina agreed with Mengi's children and rescinded the will that was allegedly written by their father.

Nothing for first wife

In the will, Mengi, who was the owner of IPP Group of companies, allegedly bequeathed all his property to Ms Ntuyabaliwe and her twin children – Jayden Kihoza Mengi and Ryan Saashisha Mengi – leaving nothing for the children he had with his first wife, Mercy Mengi. Mercy passed away in November 2018.

The High Court agreed with Mengi's older children’s arguments that their father had lost the ability to write legitimate wills due to his health problems.

The court was satisfied that there was enough evidence that Mengi had suffered a stroke since October 2016 and ailed until he met his death.

"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 court said.

Following the decision, Ms Ntuyabaliwe filed moved to the Court of Appeal, seeking to review and overturn the High Court's decision to set aside her husband's will, which had handed her all the tycoon’s property.

The move aggrieved Mengi's children, who protested against the widow's request.

In one of their arguments, they said Ms Ntuyabaliwe had no legitimacy to challenge a High Court decision by requesting a review at the Court of Appeal instead of an appeal.

Not legally valid

They also claimed that the application was not legally valid because it did not have the necessary accompanying documents.

However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the objection, stating that since Ms Ntuyabaliwe 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 her application had no effect on the case she had filed, thus giving permission for the case to be heard.

Recently, Abdiel and Benjamin filed an application with the Court of Appeal, seeking a review of the country's highest court’s decision.

They are appealing the decision of the Court of Appeal to dismiss their objection to the appeal filed by Ms Ntuyabaliwe against the High Court ruling, which rejected the will.

Among other things, Abdiel claims that the court's decision lacked legal grounds.

Ms Ntuyabaliwe's lawyers have asked the court to dismiss the arguments, claiming they have no legal basis.

The Court of Appeal has already heard the arguments by Mengi’s children and their relatives and will issue a notice informing all parties of the date of the decision.

Mengi died on May 2, 2019 while undergoing treatment in Dubai.