Family feuds rock courts in inheritance disputes
With the constitution empowering women to claim their rightful share of the estates left by their deceased parents, female siblings are using Articles 27 and 40 to fight for their rights.
Cases of siblings fighting over land have recently dominated proceedings in Eldoret courts, many of them from wealthy families in the North Rift region.
With the constitution empowering women to claim their rightful share of the estates left by their deceased parents, female siblings are using Articles 27 and 40 to fight for their rights.
One such case is that of a 62-year-old woman, Susan Chepkieng, who is fighting with her two brothers, one of whom is retired policeman Larry Kiyeng, who once served as Coast regional commander, over a 32-acre plot of land in Keiyo North Sub-county.
Ms Chepkieng has accused her brothers of sidelining her in the sharing of their late father's multi-million shilling estate.
In Nandi County, a three-decade-old dispute pitting former minister Henry Kosgey against his 29 siblings over the distribution of a Sh700 million estate left by their father, Mzee Kosgey arap Moita, has been referred to the alternative justice system.
In Uasin Gishu County, the family of former prominent Eldoret farmer-cum-politician Jackson Kibor has been embroiled in a bitter court battle over the will he left to govern the distribution of his Sh16 billion estate.
The late Kibor had appointed his fourth wife, Eunita Kibor, and lawyer Jonah Keter as executors and they duly approached the High Court to have the document accepted.
But his other widows, sons and daughters have objected to the will being accepted in its current form.
Court records show that 27 people, mostly family members, are listed as objectors to the will, which was released to the family last year. Kibor died on March 16, 2022 at the age of 88.
