- Jonah Ruto claimed in court that he was an adopted son to the deceased and deserves a share of the estate.
- Ruto has denied that he is one of the children of Philip Kutto who is the son of the deceased.
An Eldoret man has disowned his biological father at the High Court which is hearing a succession dispute over a Sh500 million estate of a former prominent farmer in the region, the late Kireger Kutto.
Jonah Ruto claimed in court that he was an adopted son to the deceased and deserves a share of the estate.
Ruto has denied that he is one of the children of Philip Kutto who is the son of the deceased.
Instead, Jonah referred to Philip as his brother despite him insisting that Jonah is his biological son.
Jonah has moved to court arguing that he should be listed as a direct beneficiary of the estate by being Kireger's adopted son.
Justice Reuben Nyakundi who is hearing the case termed the matter as complicated and directed Jonah to bring to court an elder who is an expert on customary laws related to the adoption of children in the Nandi community.
Justice Nyakundi stated that the elder must be a person who is well-conversant with all the aspects of Nandi culture, specifically issues related to the adoption of children.
“Customary law is very complicated and that is why we need an expert to come and shed light to the court on how it is done to enable the court to arrive at an informed decision/judgment when dealing with such complex matters,” ruled Justice Nyakundi.
Jonah accused his father-turned-brother, Phillip, of sidelining him in the distribution of the deceased’s estate including land located in Uasin Gishu County.
The deceased died 19 years ago at the age of 99 without a will.
He left behind four widows, namely Sarah, Rebecca, Mary and Esther and 27 children among them Philip Kutto who is the eldest among his siblings.
The deceased also left behind more than 50 grandchildren among them Jonah Rutto who is embroiled in a bitter succession court battle with his father over the distribution of the estate.
Philip and his young brother Daniel Kiplagat had been granted letters of administration to run and manage the estate of their late father.
Jonah however moved to court to stop distribution of the estate.
Jonah filed the petition in court seeking a share of the deceased’s estate as one of his sons.
The court had last year directed that the estate be distributed to the 27 children of the deceased.
Jonah compelled the court to revoke the grant of letters of administration issued to Philip and his brother to manage the estate.
Jonah claims his father concealed some material facts to the court before being issued with the grant.
Rutto jointly with Anne Chepkorir claims in the court documents that he is entitled to 80 acres of agricultural land that belonged to the deceased.
He claims that his father died interstate leaving behind adopted and biological children.
He said he is among the children the deceased took care of through his second wife Rebecca since childhood under Nandi customary law.
Jonah has argued that the second widow (Rebecca) was never blessed with children of her own as she was barren.
Jonah further claimed that his father died before effecting the transfer of the said portion of land to him.
“We have been illegally and maliciously excluded as beneficiaries in the estate of the deceased by virtue of his adopted children,” argued Rutto.
He faulted the administrators of the deceased’s estate for concealing material facts to the court with the intention of disinheriting them, hence leading to a miscarriage of justice.
Jonah argues that unless appropriate orders are issued in the best interest of justice, he risks losing his share of the estate.
In his replying affidavit, Jonah's father Philip said that to the best of his knowledge, the appellant was never one of the children of the late Kireger Kutto; whether adopted or biological.
Philip insists that Jonah is his son and hence a grandchild of the deceased
“The two are not entitled to any portion of the deceased’s estate as they are neither children, beneficiaries nor dependents of the deceased. They have no rights to lay claim over the deceased estate," said Phillip.
Phillip further argues that at no time did his son Jonah become an adopted child of the deceased.
“I raised Jonah until when he attained the age of maturity/adult. As for the second objector, she is unknown to me as well as the entire family of the late Kireger,” said Philip.
Phillip said Rebecca was his stepmother who only had one child called Sarah Chemeli adding that at no time did he see her stay with an adopted child.
“Upon the death of our stepmother Rebecca, the family came up with her eulogy listing all her children including stepchildren and nowhere were the two, Jonah and Chepkorir mentioned as children of the said widow as they allege,” said Philip.
The case will come for further hearing on June 10.