A dispute over the ownership of a 51-acre piece of land belonging to retired President Daniel Moi’s family has found its way back into court.
This is after Emily Chesang, a sister-in-law to the former President moved to the Eldoret Court of Appeal to challenge a ruling delivered by an Eldoret Environment and Land Court.
The court had ruled that the land located in Mumberes, Koibatet Sub-County, Baringo, belongs to the Moi family, and not Chesang.
However, the 74-year-old woman argues that she was given the land by her cousin – the late Lena Moi, as a reward for nursing her when she was sick.
In court documents seen by Uasin Gishu News, the petitioner wants an earlier ruling made in favour of the Moi family reversed, as it discarded her evidence where most of her documents went missing in her file, hence weakening her defence.
She also tells the court through an affidavit that her lack of information on the court process negatively affected the case.
“I was not allowed to appear in court to defend myself as a respondent. The ruling was done in haste where the matter was moved to Eldoret instead of Nakuru without my consent,” Chesang in part of her affidavit.
She believes given an opportunity, she will prove to the court that she is the rightful owner of the land in question.
Chesang further argues that the Eldoret Environment and Land Court did not factor in her defence when issuing the ruling as she was kept in the dark on the entire court process.
Left in anguish
The 74-year-old woman was evicted from the property in 2020 after the court ruling.
She had initially been asked to vacate the property in 2017 when she attempted to bury her grandchild on the farm.
“My family has been left loitering in the streets. I have lost everything that I owned. My children are being displaced. I appeal to legal experts to help me repossess what is rightfully mine,” she said.
In a ruling delivered by Land and Environment Judge Elijah Obaga, the court admitted that Chesang stayed on the disputed farm from January 1995 until the death of former Moi’s wife, Lena in 2004.
However, the court noted that the fact that the complainant stayed in the disputed farm with the permission of Lena Moi, she cannot claim to have an adverse interest in the suit property.
Documents presented in court during the hearing of the case indicated that the late President’s son Jonathan Moi became a registered owner of the property on June 8, 2007, before transferring it to his daughter Barbara Chebet Moi in October 2010.
The court observed that due to the period that Chesang stayed in the property after Jonathan Moi became the registered owner, she cannot claim for adverse possession.
“Due to the short period the complainant had lived in the suit property, it is clear that the appellant had not acquired any interest in the suit property by way of adverse possession. I, therefore, find that her case lacks merit. The same is dismissed with costs to the respondent,” ruled Justice Obaga.
The law provides a statutory period of 12 years for one to have lived in a property before one can claim for adverse possession.
