The Will allegedly written by the late Uasin Gishu businessman Jackson Kibor will be the focus when a case involving his multi-million shilling estate returns to court.
The beneficiaries appeared before High Court Judge Emily Ominde this week but the matter could not proceed as the judge asked for the proceedings to be typed so that she could peruse and give directions.
Two widows and more than 20 children have contested the Will and asked the court for the document to be examined by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over claims of forgery.
Through lawyer Andrew Muge, beneficiaries including Tegla Jeptoo, Irene Chepleting, Paul Kirwa Kiplagat, Caroline Jeptanui and Stephen Kiprono contested the Will arguing that the signature of their late father was a forgery.
Mr Kibor, a farmer-cum politician died at an Eldoret hospital on March 16, 2022 after battling illness.
He allegedly wrote the contested Will on February 27, 2021 before lawyer Jonah Kimutai Korir and witnessed by Mr Joseph Songok Kaptich.
However, the objectors said the purported Will contains glaring inconsistencies, is vague and that Kibor was influenced or coerced when he wrote the Will.
Further, the objectors said they have been ‘insufficiently provided for’ in the Will unlike other beneficiaries.
“At the time of purportedly making the Will, the testator (Kibor) did not possess the required testamentary capacity, freedom from coercion, importunity and, or other influences,” Mr Muge submitted in court documents.
The objectors also stated that the Will purports to allocate some properties that Kibor did not own or are nonexistent and that the sizes of land mentioned in the document are not a true reflection.
Mr Muge’s clients have also objected the bid for Kibor’s youngest wife, Ms Eunitah Jelimo and Mr Korir, as executors, stating that they cannot be entrusted to faithfully administer and render a true and just account of the estate, as required by law.
Kibor had properties spread across Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Nakuru, Nairobi and Mombasa.
Mr Korir maintained that the Will was the true and original document written by Kibor on February 27, 2021.
In an affidavit on November 15, 2023, Mr Korir denies the claims and maintains that the Will was executed in accordance with the standard formalities for execution set out in law.
“The contents of the will dated 27-02-2021 was read over to, and explained to and appeared to be understood by the testator (Kibor) immediately before the execution of the will,” Mr Korir said.
Mr Edward Kiplagat Lel, a retired chief and farmer in Nandi supported the contents of the will saying he attended a meeting called by Kibor at his Kabenes home, where he allegedly declared his properties for distribution among his children and wives.
Mr Lel said some of Kibor’s children declined to enter the house where the meeting was held on February 27, 2021 but only two agreed and he proceeded to state his properties and how they would be shared out.
The properties included 600 acres of land in Kitale and an additional 200 acres of land in Kabenes, which he allegedly allocated to his late first wife Mary and her children.
Kibor allegedly allocated 838 acres of land in Kipkabus, Uasin Gihsu County, to his second wife Josephine and her children, while he allocated 1,100 acres of land in Kebenes to his third wife Naomi and her sons.
The retired administrator added that Kibor bequeathed the house in which the meeting was held to his youngest wife Eunitah and her children with an additional 300-acre farm in Mafuta (Uasin Gishu County), which she is to hold in trust for her children until they become adults.
Other properties listed in the Will include 150 acres in Kabenes, another 50 acres in the same area, 63 acres in Kipkabus, 12 acres of prime land in Elgon View estate in Eldoret town, developed properties in Burnt Forest, Kimumu, Kiplombe and Eldoret town and Nyali in Mombasa.
Kibor had shares in several companies- Simatui Company Ltd, Kirober Company Ltd, Chelemei Company ltd, Mafuta Farm and Mafuta Transporters Company Ltd, Sirgoi Holdings, KBC Ltd, KenGen and Barclays Bank (Absa Bank).
The late tycoon also owned motor vehicles, tractors and combine harvesters, farming equipment and livestock, which he stipulated in his will should remain with the families in which they are located.
However, the objectors rejected the claims, arguing that Eunitah was attempting to Kabenes Farm, parcels of land in Eldoret Municipality, among others, to the exclusion of the other beneficiaries.
Mr Muge said at the time of Kibor’s death, Eunitah was living in her house in Chepkoilel (Eldoret) and not at Kabenes as she claimed.
He also said the remains of Kibor and his first wife Mary were buried at Kabenes and the property could never have been Eunitah's matrimonial home.
“It is curious and should be noted by this Honourable Court that the 1st Petitioner (Eunitah) claims to have been evicted from multiple homes. Her claim of eviction from Kabenes is false, it wasn’t and has never been her home,” Mr Muge said in documents filed in court.
The lawyer added that her claim that she was evicted from Mafuta Farm is false, as nobody lived there as the house had no roof at the time she claims eviction.
“It would be extremely prejudicial to beneficiaries of the estate for this Honourable Court to attempt to settle one party, the Applicants, in any contested property to the exclusion of all the other beneficiaries based off of an interlocutory application with no legs before the final determination of the interests of each beneficiary in the estate of the deceased,” Mr Muge added.
Other than getting the findings of the DCI report, the objectors are also pushing for Eunitah to be found in contempt of court, for allegedly defying a directive for her to deposit rent proceeds into an account.
The objectors allege that she has continued to collect rent from multiple properties to the detriment of all other beneficiaries of the estate.
They claim that she has collected more than Sh100 million since December 2022, which remains unaccounted for.
