The family of former prominent Eldoret farmer-cum-politician Jackson Kibor is entangled in yet another vicious court battle over the will he left to guide distribution of his Sh16 billion estate.
Kibor named his fourth wife Yunita Kibor and lawyer Jonah Keter as executors of the will, and they moved to the High Court to have it adopted.
But his other widows, sons and daughters have filed objections to the will being adopted in its form.
Court records indicate there are 27 individuals, mostly family members, listed as objectors to the will, which was released last year to the family soon after he died on March 16 2022 at the age of 88.
The High Court in Eldoret will today hold a status conference to determine how the hearing of the succession case will proceed.
Justice Reuben Nyakundi, who is presiding over the succession dispute, has directed that all the parties involved in the matter be present in the court during the discussion on the status of the case.
“Once we agree on the issues to handle as per the Succession Act provides, then we can have three days consecutively to hear the case and see how far we can handle it,” Justice Nyakundi said.
Justice Nyakundi discouraged lawyers in matter to avoid dwelling on issues that were nor central in the case.
“There is a clear procedure provided in the Succession Act on how such a case should be handled,” Justice Nyakundi said.
“We should all stick to that procedure and avoid losing track. If we don’t do that, we may stray into a swamp where it will be difficult to get out.”
Nyakundi said the status conference would be used to know the current state of the estate and how to preserve it until the matter is heard and determined.
The judge said he would issue orders on how the case would proceed after the status conference.
Lawyer Karen Chesoo, who is representing the executors, asked the judge to issue a gag order against the media covering the matter.
She argued her clients had the right to privacy, which must be protected by the court.
Justice Nyakundi, however, said there were clear procedures put in place by former CJ Willy Mutunga on how the media should handle court matters.
The judge directed that journalists covering the case be present in court today as he issues orders on how the case would proceed.
Kibor left a vast estate including thousands of acres of agricultural land in the North Rift region, real estate, business premises in major towns of Eldoret, Nairobi and Nakuru, movable assets and bank deposits, among others.
Two of the late Kibor’s surviving widows and their 27 children are among those listed as objectors in the case over the will.
Most of the objectors argue that the will may have been tampered with to favour Yunita in the distribution of the assets.
The late Kibor lived a life of full court drama as he battled with his family members over the same wealth. Even in death, the battles continue.