Kibor widows: Our husband was the best we could ask for

The widows of Jackson Kibor, the prominent businessman-cum-politician from Uasin Gishu county, have mourned him as a family man who loved them despite the challenges their marriages faced. 

Mzee Kibor, passed away on Wednesday at an Eldoret hospital where he had been receiving treatment.

Speaking to the media at his Kabenes home in Uasin Gishu County, the widows who included Mzee Kibor’s second wife Josephine Kibor, his third wife Naomi Kibor and his fourth, and younger wife Yunita Kibor said that they had been living in harmony since their reconciliation under the Mzee Kibor late last year. 

Mzee Kibor’s first wife passed on in 2010. 

Even in his death, Mzee Jackson Kibor who succumbed Wednesday night to long Covid-19 complications after battling the viral disease effects for 17 months did not cease to amuse.

For almost two decades, he could not see eye to eye with his two wives.

The bitter matrimonial differences culminated in a successful divorce of Ms Josephine Jepkoech and Naomi Jeptoo, his second and third wives respectively when an Eldoret court termed their unions as ‘irretrievably damaged' over claims of desertion, physical abuse, cruelty, and denial of conjugal rights.

But in a strange twist, the octogenarian in late February summoned all his family members and several friends to his expansive Kabenes farm and sought forgiveness before reconciling with them.

He then bequeathed each son 200 acres of land and 100 acres to each of the daughters, amongst other property. This was two weeks before his death at St Luke's Orthopedic and Trauma hospital in Eldoret on Wednesday.

He owns 840 acres in Kipkabus where he grows maize and does dairy farming. 

Mzee Kibor bought his second parcel of 1 600 acres in Kabenes at Sh220, 000 in 1969 before purchasing another 1 200 acres in Kitale which had 500 Friesian cows at Sh1.5 million and another 400 acres in Moiben at Sh12 million among other prime plots in Eldoret, Nairobi and Mombassa.

“I still see you living in my houses and yet there was a divorce. I never divorced you because if I did you would not be anywhere near my property,” narrates Ms Jeptoo who Mzee Kibor had divorced in 2018 on the events of February 27, 2022.

She told Nation at their Kabenes home, that her husband was a family man, but the numerous court cases he was embroiled in was a show of might and a form of discipline to all his family members.

“The court cases, which included divorce, DNA tests, property suits among others was a form of discipline because he wanted us to know that all his hard-earned money was not to be squandered. Eventually, he reconciled us all and shared the property amongst the children,” she said.

Ms Jeptoo said their husband loved them despite the challenges their marriages faced and that he wanted the entire family to live in harmony since the reconciliation.

“He would discipline us- that is the children and the wives equally, even if it means whipping us and there was anything we could do because he also loved us and wanted the best for us. He wanted his children to learn the hard way. As widows and our children, we are united by his love and we shall greatly miss him,” she said.

“If we do not discipline the children the hard way they will squander all the wealth I worked hard within a blink of an eye thus they need to be harsh on them. He was an extraordinary man and we are proud of him because of his high intelligence and wisdom," she said.

The three widows, Ms Josephine, Ms Jepto and the younger Ms Yunita whom Mzee Kibor married in 2002 sat sit by side as they mourned their husband on Thursday.

The towering figure was an amiable soul.

His husky voice and humour made him be a good debater and always attracted crowds even back then in his heydays. 

Yesterday hundreds of mourners thronged his homes to condole with his bereaved family as leaders, including the Deputy President, mourned him.

Born at Kipkabus, Uasin Gishu County in 1934, his mother had moved with him to Nandi County before her death.

He returned to Kipkabus and immersed himself in casual jobs at a tanning facility in the area while living with his uncle.

His fourth wife, Ms Yunita heaps praise at her husband, describing him as a caring and loving husband, father and grandfather to his wives, children and grandchildren. She dismissed the wide perception that he was discriminative and cruel.

“He was a fearless fighter who always wanted the best for everyone," she said.

Nation has also learned that Mzee Kibor blessed all his children and grandchildren on the day he summoned them all to their Kabenes home and asked them to be always united. 

"He somehow knew his days on earth were diminishing by the minute,” she recalls.

His eldest son Mr Philip Kimutai said his father was a strict disciplinarian who never wanted any of his family members to outwit him.

“He had a frenemy relationship with a majority of his family members and dragged everyone to court," he said.

Whenever he won a case, he would come back home and remind the other party that he (Mzee Kibor) was right, before reconciling,” he said.

Mr Kimutai said since the family is polygamous, and so it is common to find children from one family in the other home because he never entertained differences among his children.

“We are 28 children from the four homes and it’s difficult to tell which children belong to which home. He would hold regular family meetings to instil discipline and hard work,” he said.

Ms Loyse Kibor, one of his daughters said she shares several characteristics with her father since they would quarrel a lot.

“We disagreed a lot on principle, especially on things I saw he was doing wrong and eventually we mended fences," she said.

"We shall miss him. He was a great inspirational father to us and now we have lost a patriarch whose contribution to the family will be unmatched,” she said.

She said through the unofficial men's conference, her father reached many people who have commiserated with the family at his demise.