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Esther Kipsat, 89, at her home in Eldoret after winning the land dispute case.
After nearly two decades of courtroom battles, two elderly sisters aged 92 and 89 have reclaimed their late father’s 46-acre estate in Uasin Gishu County, marking a historic win for women’s inheritance rights in Kenya.
In a decisive judgment delivered by Justice Robert Wananda at the High Court in Eldoret, sisters Kobilo Chepkiyeng and Esther Kipsat were declared the rightful heirs to their father’s estate in Kipsangui, Soy Sub-County.
The case, filed in 2007, had pitted the elderly sisters against their stepmother, Ms Esther Rokocho, and her son, Mr Wilson Rokocho, in a drawn-out succession dispute spanning 18 years.
The court found that the objectors, including their stepmother and her son, had used unlawful means in the succession process, deliberately excluding the family of the deceased’s first wife, Ms Terik Tapkigen Rokocho, of whom the two sisters are direct descendants.
"The objectors’ notice of motion dated February 4, 2025, is hereby dismissed with costs to the petitioners. The objectors are now barred from filing any further application before this court,” stated Justice Wananda in his ruling delivered on August 30, 2025.
The court has barred a woman and her son from submitting any further applications relating to an inheritance case in which the judge has awarded two sisters their father's property.
This verdict follows a long trail of legal defeats for the objectors.
Their initial application to strike out the case, arguing that the estate had already been settled in Succession Cause No. 313 of 1978 in Nairobi, was dismissed in 2019 by Justice Hellen Omondi. A subsequent appeal in 2020 met the same fate.
Further attempts to stay proceedings, including Civil Application No. E112 of 2021 at the Court of Appeal in Eldoret, was also dismissed on merit in 2022.
Despite repeated court losses, both parties later applied to be appointed as administrators of the estate. Justice Erick Ogola, ruling in 2022, dismissed the objectors’ claims and appointed the sisters as administrators.
“Both this court and the Court of Appeal, having previously declined to grant orders of stay of proceedings, it will, in my view, amount to re-opening matters already determined and this court cannot permit it,” Justice Ogola ruled.
For Ms Chepkiyeng and Ms Kipsat, now in the twilight of their lives, the ruling is more than a personal victory – it is a symbolic affirmation of dignity, equality, and resilience.
“Our victory serves as a beacon of hope for others who have faced similar challenges in land ownership disputes. We now breathe a sigh of relief after this determination, as a result of our resilience in the face of adversity,” one of the sisters said outside the court.
Esther Kipsat, 89, at her home in Eldoret after winning the land dispute case.
Their case, rooted in generational land rights and gender equity, reflects the ongoing challenges many Kenyan women face in succession matters, especially in rural areas, where patriarchal customs often override constitutional provisions.
The sisters' long struggle highlights the tension between traditional inheritance practices and the 2010 Constitution, which guarantees equal rights for daughters and sons in matters of succession.
Legal experts and land rights advocates have hailed the ruling as a watershed moment for inheritance justice in Kenya.
“This case reinforces the constitutional right of women to inherit land and property as equal heirs,” said a legal observer familiar with the case. “It also sets an important precedent against exclusionary practices that are still common, especially in extended families where step-relations and second marriages complicate succession.
With the objectors now barred from filing further applications, the sisters can finally enjoy the peace and recognition they have long been denied.
