Dispute over the ownership of a prime land in Lessos township, Nandi County valued at over Ksh100 million is now before the Supreme Court.
Two families have been battling in court over the land for years now. One of the families is that of a former Lands Minister who served under the late President Daniel Moi while the other is of a former councillor.
The dispute is said to have started from a Ksh90,090 debt that Hosea Kipchumba, son of former councillor Josiah Kibisen Sang, allegedly owned former Lands Minister Joseph Letting.
Sang’s family claims documents used in the case over the land ownership row that saw the former Minister’s family awarded the land were fraudulently acquired.
The former councillor’s family argues that their efforts to question the legality of the documents used in the case were thwarted in both the high court and the court of appeal.
They have since engaged the services of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) Department of Serious Fraud to investigate the authenticity of the documents in question.
“We are happy with the kind of investigations that experts from DCI as well as document examiner experts;, we are now set to argue our case in supreme court,” said David Kipkogei Bisem, son to the deceased former councillor.
The transaction was done was not procedural
The family of the late councillor insists that they did not sell the said property to the late minister as was indicated in court documents.
According to Bisem, his late elder brother told the family he did not owe the minister the said amount nor did he sell any part of the land in question as claimed by the former minister.
He further says the manner in which the entire transaction was done was not procedural, bearing in mind that succession was done fraudulently and at one point it was nullified by Justice Mohammed Ibrahim.
“A keen look at the said transaction will quickly establish that the authors of the documents used were under some duress to process the documents since several steps were not followed in sequence as required,” said Bisem.
The former minister had told the court that he acquired the property as compensation for a debt of Ksh90,090 that a deceased son of the late councillor had borrowed from him.
But Bisem claims the late minister used his position to intimidate his ailing brother before claiming ownership of their land.
“We are hoping that we will now get justice in the supreme court due to investigations that officers from DCI have done,” said the son of a former councillor.
Not satisfied with the court’s decision
Lawyer Elijah Momanyi representing the embattled family said that he was not satisfied with the decision of the high court as well as the court of appeal.
Momanyi maintains that his clients have not been served with justice and that they have overwhelming evidence to prove his case.
“I wonder how someone can claim that he acquired family land as a result of the debt that one of the members of the family owed him. The same clearly constitutes meddling in the estate of the deceased person,” said lawyer Momanyi.
However, the family of the accused former minister has insisted that they followed due process of law to acquire the property.
A high Court in Eldoret, in its ruling, observed that there was evidence that Joseph Arap Letting entered into an agreement for sale with Hosea Kipchumba, a beneficiary of the estate of Josiah Kibisem Arap Sang.
Court of Appeal Judge Mumbi Ngugi upheld the ruling despite records in the land’s office demonstrating glaring anomalies in the processing of the title deeds.
“It is my view that the trial court duly found appellant‘s application was devoid of merit. I accordingly dismiss the appeal with cost to the respondents,” read part of Lady Justice Ngugi’s order issued in Kisumu on March 17, 2023.
