A 20-year-old land dispute in Nandi County pitting the families of a former minister in the Moi regime and a former councillor has been taken to the Supreme Court.
The dispute stems from a Sh90,090 debt that Hosea Kipchumba, the son of the late councillor Josiah Kibisem Sang, allegedly owed former Lands Minister and Head of the Civil Service Joseph Leting. Mr Leting also served as Permanent Secretary in the President's Office in the early 1990s.
Mr Sang's family claims that documents used in court to award Mr Leting the disputed land were fraudulently obtained.
The former minister had told the court that he acquired the property as compensation for a debt of Sh90,090 that a deceased son of the late councillor had borrowed from him.
In its ruling, the High Court said there was evidence that Joseph Arap Letting had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Hosea Kipchumba, a beneficiary of the estate of Josiah Kibisem Arap Sang.
In his ruling, Court of Appeal judge Mumbi Ngugi upheld the Eldoret High Court's decision despite the fact that records at the Lands office showed glaring anomalies in the handling of the title deeds.
“It is my view that the trial court duly found the appellant’s application was devoid of merit. I accordingly dismiss the appeal with cost to the respondents,” ruled Justice Mumbi Ngugi in Kisumu on March 17, 2023.
However, Mr Sang's family claims that their efforts to challenge the legality of the documents used in the case have been frustrated in both the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
The family has enlisted the services of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Department of Serious Fraud to investigate the authenticity of the documents in question.
“We are happy with the investigations that experts from DCI as well as document examiner experts are carrying out and we are now set to argue our case at the Supreme Court,” said David Kipkogei Bisem, a son of the late councillor.
Mr Bisem said his late older brother told the family that he did not owe the former minister the said amount, nor did he sell any part of the land in question as claimed.
Mr Bisem said the alleged transaction was not done procedurally, considering that the alleged inheritance was done fraudulently and at one point was set aside 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 Mr Bisem.
According to Mr Bisem, 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 have been done by officers from DCI,” said Mr Bisem.
Lawyer Elijah Momanyi, representing the embattled family, said that he was not satisfied with the decision of the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
Mr Momanyi said his clients had not received justice despite having overwhelming evidence to prove their case.
The lawyer said that with the case now before the Supreme Court, his client hopes to get justice.
“I wonder how someone can claim that he acquired family land as a result of a debt that one of the members of the family owed him. The same constitutes meddling in the estate of the deceased person,” said Mr Momanyi.
