Woman to inherit female husband’s assets

After winning the traditional Nandi woman-woman marriage recognition in the country’s High Court, Ms Monica Jesang Katam has consolidated her gains by convincing the court of her rights to administer the estate of her ‘husband’ after being declared the sole inheritor.

Ms Katam was all smiles on Tuesday when Mombasa High Court judge Maureen Odero ordered that she continues being in charge of the estate, which she inherited from Ms Cherotich Kimong’ony Kibserea.

A relative of Ms Kibserea, Ms Selina Jemaiyo Tirop, wanted the court to suspend the issuance of the letters to Ms Katam, who was given the right to manage the estate in an earlier ruling delivered by Justice Jackton Ojwang’, now in the Supreme Court.

She also wanted the money received from the rental premises deposited in court pending the determination of the appeal.

Ms Tirop had claimed Ms Kibserea had left the property in her hands and Mr Jackson Chepkowny, who claimed to be the son of Ms Kibserea. They jointly contested Ms Katam’s application and sought a caveat on the estate.

But the dispute was put to rest on Tuesday when Lady Justice Odero declined to stay the use of letters of administration, saying that another court had already given them out to the correct person.

She also dismissed the plea that all the money from the rental houses be deposited in court pending appeal.

The judge only allowed Ms Tirop to occupy one room of Ms Kibserea’s estate, although she had already been evicted by the ‘widow’ early in the year.

The woman-to-woman marriage practised by several Kenyan communities was given legal backing by the court in June when Justice Ojwang’ observed that the Constitution recognised culture as the foundation of the nation.

This kind of marriage is usually an intricate arrangement in which a man assists a chosen woman to bear heirs for an elderly, childless matriarch.

Here, elderly Nandi women in need of heirs and companionship would sound out relatives and friends for help in looking for a suitable ‘bride’, usually a far much younger woman, to marry and bear children for them.

And once the ‘bride’ is identified, what follows are the usual traditional wife-acquisition procedures, with the bride price negotiations and payments.

Ms Katam, 38, is a perfect example of how women from the Nandi and perhaps others become ‘wives’ of elderly childless women.

In her case, relatives of Ms Kibserea identified her as a suitable companion after she had two children from a previous relationship with a man who did not marry her.

Matrimonial home

Ms Kibserea had been married a long time ago but left the matrimonial home after realising that she could not bear children, and came to Mombasa where she worked for a white couple until she quit.

Ms Katam, the mother of two boys Jonathan Kipruto Serem (18) and Ian Kiplangat Serem (16), revealed how her parents were approached by her ‘husband’, who was in the company of her sister Rael Chumo and other people, seeking the hand of their daughter for a woman-to-woman marriage.

“My ‘husband’ had already been told about me by some of her relatives and when she came to my parents and sought their permission, I saw no reason to decline,” she said.

Since the man responsible for her two sons was nowhere to be found and had already married, she took up the offer because “she had nothing to lose” and left her parents’ home in Eldoret for Mombasa to be the ‘wife’, companion and caretaker of her elderly ‘husband’.

The ‘husband’ and the ‘wife’ lived together in Mombasa until 2006 when they returned to the bride’s home for what doubled up as the handing over ceremony and wedding, which was attended by 50 people.

The ‘husband’ paid bride price in the form of four head of cattle and a sheep, which were assessed in cash terms, and she gave out Sh57,000 for purchasing the animals.

During their stay together in Mombasa, Ms Katam said her ‘husband’ told her that she would identify a man who would satisfy her sexual needs.

“She told me that she understood that I was a woman with needs and therefore opted to introduce to a mature married man from my tribe who would be my sexual partner. We still see each other up to date,” she said.