Ex-MP Bare Shill dragged to court by siblings, accuse him of disinheriting them
Former Fafi MP Elias Bare Shill
What you need to know:
- Mr Elias Bare Shill allegedly transferred one of his late father's properties in Garissa town
- The former two-term MP has already obtained a title deed to the property and is now demanding rent from his sibling Mr Aden Bare
Former Fafi MP Elias Bare Shill is embroiled in a bitter succession dispute with his siblings after he allegedly transferred one of his late father's properties in Garissa town to disinherit other beneficiaries of the estate.
In a dispute pending before the A Kadhi's Court and the Rent Restriction Tribunal in Garissa, the siblings led by Aden Bare Shill claim that the former two-term MP has already obtained a title deed to the property and is now demanding rent from Mr Aden Bare, who has been occupying the property.
Mr Aden Bare claimed the property was a large part of his late father's estate. "In view of the imminent threat of distress for rent by the plaintiff, the applicant as a beneficiary of the estate of the late Bare Shill Abdi is lawfully occupying the suit premises and is a legal heir of the deceased," he said.
The dispute has since forced the Kadhi court to suspend the inheritance case of the late Bare Shill Abdi (her father), which was filed last year until the ownership dispute is resolved.
The Rent Restriction Tribunal, on the other hand, certified an application by Mr Aden as urgent and suspended its earlier order of July 17, which had allowed Shill to evict his brother from the property.
"The plaintiff/landlord (Mr Shill) and his servants or employees or agents are hereby restrained from evicting, harassing or otherwise interfering with the defendant/tenant's occupation of the suit premises pending the hearing of the inter-parties application," the tribunal's deputy chairman, Mr J.K. Kingi, ruled on September 28.
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Evidence adduced in court showed that the late Bare died on September 8, 1973, leaving behind 12 beneficiaries, including the widow.
Mr Aden said his Mr Shill, who is the eldest brother, had been collecting rent from the disputed property to the exclusion of other beneficiaries.
The Kadhi's Court in Garissa suspended the distribution of the estate until the ownership of the property is resolved after it emerged that Mr Shill has a title to the property.
"The ownership of the disputed property must first be determined before the inheritance petition can be determined. I, therefore, grant the application and direct the parties to proceed to the relevant court to settle the issue of ownership and then come to this court to determine the shares of the heirs," Dogo Sheikh Dabasoo, a senior resident of Kadhi in Garissa, said in a ruling on May 24.
Mr Aden, through his lawyer Mohammed Billow, asked the court to vary its earlier orders after Mr Shill started demanding rent from him.
"That the plaintiff has since fraudulently obtained a title deed and is now using the fake title against his siblings to disinherit us and claim to be the owner of the suit property," he said.
He further said that before their father died, Mr Shill had tried to transfer the property to himself but the attempts were thwarted.
The first attempt allegedly took place on August 16, 1973, but was rejected by the then-provincial administration. He made a second attempt but it was rejected on 9 November 1981 by the then Town Clerk, a Mr Mbinda, for lack of consent and approval from the District Council.
Two beneficiaries of the estate later, in March 1989, allegedly wrote to the Public Trustee about the alleged interference and pleaded that Mr Shill be stopped from collecting rent from the property.
"The plaintiff is in a position where he is facing a very imminent distress charge for rent and it is only a matter of time before the defendant strikes, distresses and evicts the plaintiff from the premises he has lawfully occupied for years," Mr Aden said.
