• Lawyers involved said they were unable to agree on some of the issues and assets in dispute.
• Three months ago, the family agreed to meet at the gravesite of their father Mzee Kipkosgey Arap Moita in a bid to resolve the row over the estate.
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
The family of former Minister Henry Kosgey has failed to agree on how to share their father’s estate valued at more than Sh1.2 billion despite several attempts to resolve the matter out of court.
High Court judge Reuben Nyakundi has directed that the court will make a ruling on the matter on December 14, after lawyers involved said they were unable to agree on some of the issues and assets in dispute.
“I will now retire the file because the matter has been here for long and prepare to make a ruling on December 14, 2023. The matter can be mentioned on November 16, 2023,” he said.
Justice Nyakundi made the directive after lawyer Katwa Kigen said they had agreed on most of the issues except a few that they were unable to hammer a joint decision.
Lawyer Isaac Sambu, who is representing Kosgey's brother Cornelius Bungei, said since they had not agreed, the court was well-placed to make a decision.
Three months ago, the family agreed to meet at the gravesite of their father Mzee Kipkosgey Arap Moita in a bid to resolve the row over the estate.
Justice Nyakundi had allowed the family of five widows consisting 29 children a second chance to meet preferably at the grave to resolve the longstanding dispute.
“You can have the meeting around the grave because perhaps he may intercede for you to get a solution over his estate. I'm sure he also wants to rest in peace and will be happy if you finally agree at the graveside meeting,” he said.
Mzee Moita had five wives and 29 children, including Kosgey, who served as minister in the regime of former President Moi.
He owned more than 700 acres of land in Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Molo and shares in companies including Kibware Limited, where Kosgey is the main shareholder.
Kosgey is not party to the succession case at the High Court in Eldoret but is listed as a beneficiary of his father's estate.
All the family members agreed to have Cornelius Kirorio Bungei and Monica Jeruto Rutto as administrators of the estate.
They also agreed on the number of beneficiaries to be 29 and eight assets in the estate.
“We also agreed on the distribution to be done per family of the five homes, with each child getting what will be agreed on,” Katwa said.
However, Sambu said the members of the family whom he represented had reservations on what was agreed on.
Cornelius wants equal share for everyone in the family regardless of gender and all other factors.
Sambu said his clients also want shares in one company to go the children but the benefits go to the only surviving widow of Mzee Moita.
Mzee Moita had allegedly written a will on February 17, 1992, but its validity was revoked on February 20, 2020, after Justice Hellen Omondi found that the document was a forgery.
The court agreed with objectors to the will who argued that Mzee Moita had suffered a stroke in 1988 that paralysed him to the extent he could not talk, and hence he could not have authored the will.
Justice Nyakundi later distributed the estate to the family but five members opposed the distribution and filed objections leading to current dispute before the High Court.
Kosgey is a wealthy, influential and highly respected veteran politician in Nandi county and the Rift Valley region.
His son Alex Kosgey was an MP for Emgwen but he lost the seat in the last elections. His other son, lawyer Allan Kosgey, unsuccessfully vied for the governor's seat in the county last year.