Mzee Kibor’s youngest widow alleges assault, plot to disinherit her
Eunitah Jelimo Bor, the youngest widow of the late Mzee Jackson Kibor addresses the press at her home in Itigo, Eldoret of Uasin Gishu County on Wednesday April 27, 2022. She alleged that some of Kibor's children have disinherited her and her four children. She also claimed that her life is in danger.
What you need to know:
- Mzee Kibor had three other wives – Mary (deceased), Josephine Jepkoech and Naomi Jeptoo. He had a total of 28 children.
- Ms Chelimo says the plot to deny her a share of the inheritance started even before her husband was interred on April 1.
Hardly a month after prominent Uasin Gishu County farmer and politician Mzee Jackson Kibor was buried, a bitter property row has emerged in his family, with his youngest widow, Ms Eunita Chelimo, alleging a plot to disinherit her of the property left behind by her husband.
Ms Chelimo revealed on Wednesday that she was ejected from her Kabenes matrimonial home and her 57 animals shared among her stepchildren.
The widow alleged that she was physically assaulted by a family member and the matter is with police. She claimed farm inputs and tractors were taken away and divided among her co-wives’ children.
Speaking at her Chepkoilel home on Wednesday, where she convened a press conference, she claimed the rest of the extended family wants to disinherit her of the property she inherited from her late husband.
Eunitah Jelimo Bor, the youngest widow of the late Mzee Jackson Kibor addresses the press at her home in Itigo, Eldoret of Uasin Gishu County on Wednesday April 27, 2022. She claims she was assaulted by a family member in a property inheritance row and that her life is in danger.
“I have even lost my Kabenes matrimonial home to the children of my co-wives who have occupied the home. Now there is a plot to disinherit my children because all our properties have been caveated and I can’t even raise the money for my children’s education,” she said.
Mzee Kibor had three other wives – Mary (deceased), Josephine Jepkoech and Naomi Jeptoo. He had a total of 28 children. Ms Chelimo now says the plot to deny her a share of the inheritance started even before her husband was interred on April 1.
"I was surprised to be served with property restrictions filed by some of Mzee Kibor’s children, which were interestingly issued on April 1, the same day we were burying him," she said.
She added: "Since then I have had no peace because I have been ejected from my Kabenes matrimonial home and on Tuesday my 57 livestock were shared by my co-wives’ children and they left me with nothing," she said.
She called on the government to come to her aid, saying she had been physically assaulted and had reported the matter to police.
The home of Eunitah Jelimo Bor, the youngest widow of the late Mzee Jackson Kibor in Itigo in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County on April 27, 2022.
“The government should come and help because my life is in danger and I have even been assaulted by one of my co-wives’ children and I reported the matter to the Kuinet police station vide OB 17/14/04/2022,” she said.
"My children are still young and I need to take care of them with the property left behind by their father. But if they lose their inheritance their future will be in jeopardy."
Mr Kibor, famously referred to as the men’s conference chairman by his Kenyan fans, died aged 88 on March 16 at St Luke’s Orthopedic and Trauma Hospital in Eldoret where he had been admitted for 10 days for Covid-19-related complications. The family said he was diagnosed with kidney failure and was undergoing dialysis.
He was buried on April 1 at his home on Samitui farm in Kabenes, Uasin Gishu, next to his first wife Mama Mary, according to his wishes. The Nation learnt that the octogenarian in late February summoned all his family members and several friends to his expansive Kabenes farm and sought forgiveness before reconciling with them.
Mzee Jackson Kibor's widows, Josephine Chepkoech from (left), Eunitah Chelimo, Naomi Cheptoo, Kibor’s son Phillip, relatives and other mourners during his burial ceremony at his Samitui farm, Kabenes of Uasin Gishu County on April 01, 2022.
Two weeks before his death, he had then bequeathed each son 200 acres of land and 100 acres to each of the daughters, among other property.
The late Kibor owned 840 acres in Kipkabus, where he grew maize and kept dairy cattle.
Mzee Kibor bought his second parcel of 1,600 acres in Kabenes for Sh220,000 in 1969 before purchasing another 1,200 in Kitale that had 500 Friesian cows for Sh1.5 million and another 400 in Moiben for Sh12 million among other prime plots in Eldoret, Nairobi and Mombasa.
The Nation has also learnt that Mzee Kibor blessed all his children and grandchildren on the day he summoned them to their Kabenes home and asked them to always be united.
Speaking at his burial, his youngest widow moved mourners into rapturous laughter when she narrated how Mzee Kibor approached her asking her to be his daughter in-law.
Some of the children and grandchildren of the late Mzee Jackson Kibor during the burial ceremony held at his home in Samitui farm, Kabenes of Uasin Gishu County on April 01, 2022.
“It is interesting how I became his youngest wife because he disguised his interest. The first time he talked to me, he said he wanted me to be the wife of one of his sons. But one day he changed his words and said he was seeking my hand in marriage, which I refused. I feared his overtures because I was a youth church leader,” she said.
Apparently, her parents were squatters at Mzee Kibor estate and her industriousness attracted him to her.
“One day he bought me a phone, saying we needed to be in constant communication. Later he gave me his briefcase to keep and never came for it, only later to tell me it was a security to ensure I do not run away from him,” Ms Chelimo narrated.
Eunitah Chelimo, the fourth wife of Mzee Jackson Kibor, during his burial ceremony at his Samitui farm, Kabenes, Uasin Gishu County on April 01, 2022.
She said her husband was a loving person that no one in the family would outwit.
“He was the lion and when he roared, all submitted. We even took several strokes of the cane,” she said, describing him as a caring person.
“All the drama in the media was just theatrics because in real life it never happened,” she recalled.
