A Kiambu woman has convinced the High Court to suspend orders issued by a magistrate declaring her husband mentally unstable and purporting to appoint a guardian to handle his private affairs.

Leah Nyamuiru successfully argued that the orders issued by a Kiambu magistrate on May 19, were unlawful and the lower court exceeded its powers when granting the orders.

In the ruling, Justice Weldon Korir said the magistrate overstepped his powers in determining the mental status of the wealthy businessman, Douglas Ngobe Mugua. The tycoon is sickly and bed-ridden.

In the petition, Nyamuiru had accused her 12 brothers and sisters-in-law of hatching a plot to wrestle control of her husband's expansive estate by claiming that he was no longer capable of managing his property.

The wife and her two adult children returned to Kenya two years ago after staying in the US for nearly four decades.

"I have looked at the application before me and I am satisfied that she has established an arguable case. She has demonstrated that the magistrate at Kiambu may have acted unlawfully and exceeded his jurisdiction in issuing the orders," Justice Korir said.

The woman has obtained orders directing the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keriako Tobiko, to take over the prosecution of the ailing businessman's brother, Henry Kamau Magua, who is facing a pending fraud case in Kiambu.

Korir said that since all parties are in agreement that Ngobe is sick, Nyamuiru and her brothers and sisters-in-law should agree on a visitation time-table which will enable them to see their sick relative.

The judge said the timetable should be agreed within seven days and the parties should appear before him on August 8 to record an agreement.