The family of a prominent Uasin Gishu politician who died in 2022 is considering mediation to resolve a two-year dispute on the sharing of his Sh16 billion estate among 29 beneficiaries.
Mzee Jackson Kibor, a politician-cum-farmer, died in March 2022 aged 88, triggering a court dispute over his vast wealth, which escalated after some forensic experts termed a Will that initially guided the division of the property as fake.
Another scrutiny of the document by other experts found it was genuine, the contradicting findings further throwing the case into disarray.
Some beneficiaries led by his daughter Loice Kibor have proposed an out-of-court settlement.
“We are going to seek the court to allow us to try to solve the matter through mediation out of court,” said Ms Loice, who said that route would save the image of the family and the legacy of the late father.
She implored other family members to embrace mediation through the help of elders and professional mediators.
“We are eager to involve elders and other mediators to help us solve this matter in an amicable way,” said Ms Loice.
However, Kibor’s youngest wife Eunitah Kibor insists that she would only embrace the dialogue if it would factor in the Will of her late husband.
“I am against mediation but we must respect the Will of my late husband on how he wanted his estate distributed among all genuine beneficiaries,” said Ms Eunitah.
Will forgery claims
Forgery was raised during the hearing of the matter on January 24, 2024, before Justice Reuben Nyakundi who has since recused from the matter following complaints by a section of the family of the late Kibor.
Some family members have accused Ms Unitah of interfering with the Will to favour herself in the sharing of the estate, which includes more than 5,000 acres of agricultural land, commercial plots, and movable assets across the country.
In the case before the court, Eunitah and lawyer Jonah Korir have been listed as applicants seeking to have the Will adopted as is.
Those objecting to the Will include Tecla Kibor, Irene Kibor, Paul Kibor, Carolyne Jeptanui, and Stephen Kibor, among others.
They claim that the deceased was not competent to make decisions as he was battling illness by the time the Will was allegedly signed.
The proposal for an out-of-court mediation settlement comes after two forensic audits of the contested Will produced conflicting results.
An audit by a private investigator found that the said Will was genuine, while a parallel audit of the same Will by experts from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) declared it a forgery.
The bone of contention in the Will centered on the signature alleged to be the late Kibor’s, where the deceased and his youngest wife Eunitah Jelimo Kibor, and Eldoret-based advocate Jonah Kimutai Korir were executors.
Dignity Forensic Document Examiners, a firm associated with retired Senior Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) officer Daniel Gutu was contracted by Kalya &Company Advocates on behalf of the executors in the estate of Jackson Kibor to conduct an audit on August 28, 2024, through a formal request from the law firm.
“We refer to the above caption matter and instructions from executors in the estate of Jackson Kiprotich Kibor-Mrs Eunitah JelimoKibor and advocate Jonah Kimutai Korir. We are writing to formally instruct you to conduct a forensic examination regarding the authenticity of the attached documents, specifically the original Will of Jackson Kiprotich Kibor dated 27/02/2021. The document is central to an ongoing dispute about the validity of the Will,” stated the letter from the law firm of Kalya and Company advocate.
Among the documents subjected to forensic audit were sale agreements, documents posted in banks for safe custody, lease agreements, and affidavits among other documents containing signatures of the deceased politician.
Acting on the instructions of the executors, the law firm instructed the document examiner to verify the signature of the deceased on all documents involved by comparing it with the signature on the Will dated 27/02/2021 to determine if it was authentic. The examiner was supposed to ascertain whether the signature on the Will was consistent with the signature of the deceased.
The expert was directed to deliver his findings within 14 days after receiving the request. He was also reminded that since the matter is still active in court he was reminded that he may be required to testify in court so as to explain his findings to the court.
According to court documents, those that were subjected to signature verifications have been marked as A1 -A2 as well as B1-B14.
Upon completion of the verification of contested signatures, the audit team observed that they shared similar individual writing.
“My conclusion is that questioned and known signatures share similar individual writing characteristics meaning are from a common origin. Also, the late J.K Kibor's signatures are complex and any attempt to stimulate them the difference will be obvious,” stated the forensic audit expert in the document signed by Daniel Gutu a forensic document examiner.
Ironically, a parallel forensic report of the same documents examined by experts from DCI following a court order concluded that the signatures were from different authors.
“I have examined and compared signatures circled by pencil on the questioned document marked “A” (Will of Jackson Kiprotich Kibor dated February 27, 2021, with known signatures pointed by pencil on exhibits marked as B1, B2, B9.B11, B16, B23and B24. In my opinion, the signatures were made by different authors,” concluded the report signed by Chania Geoffrey forensic document examiner for the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The DCI detectives were instructed to examine the signature following forgery complaints raised before Eldoret High Court by a section of parties involved. The said offense is alleged to have been committed on February 27, 2021, at Bundotich Korir &Company.
According to DCI, the suspects in the forgery committed a forgery crime contrary to section 350 of The Penal Code.
While delivering the order to subject the documents to forensic examination, Justice Nyakundi ordered Unitah Kibor, the youngest widow to surrender the original copy of the Will to the DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road within 10 days so as to be subjected to forensic examination.
"The executioner in possession of the original copy of the Will produce and submit it via personal delivery to the DC domiciled along Kiambu Road for the same to be subjected to forensic examination," Justice Nyakundi ordered.
Mzee Kibor, commonly referred to as the ‘Men’s chairman’ died in March 2022 at a private hospital in Eldoret town aged 80 years.
He left behind a vast estate spread in Rift Valley, Nairobi, and Mombasa counties all estimated at Sh16 billion.
The experts are expected to testify their varied findings on the signatures on November 11 before Justice Emilly Ominde, who replaced Justice Nyakundi.
