A Rift valley Mp Risks arrest for contempt of Court!

The family of colonial paramount chief Kibor arap Talai wants Kapseret
MP Oscah Sudi arrested and charged with contempt of court order after
he allegedly started fencing off a section of the agricultural
2,000-acre piece of land belonging to the family.

The aggrieved family says the legislator has gone ahead with the
fencing in blatant defiance of an active High court order stopping him
from engaging in any activity in the disputed property.

Talai who was the Uasin Gishu Ford Kenya branch chairman died in 2012 aged 95.

Alexander Jaoko, a lawyer representing the family told an Eldoret
court Sudi is using his influence to forcefully acquire a section of
sh 3.5 billion estate of their late father despite the existence of a
caveat pending property succession disputes.

Jaoko was referring to a case where six family members of the late
paramount chief have been charged with destruction of property in a
land that has been irregularly acquired by the law maker through the
daughter in-law of the late paramount Chief.

In the case, the Paramount Chief’s daughter in-law Eunice Talai who is
alleged to be working in cohort with the MP, accused her in-laws for
destroying her property whose damage is estimated at more than sh
600,000.

Her in-laws have accused her for illegally selling to the MP a section
of family property without the knowledge and consent of estate
administrator Nancy Talai.

On Monday six family members of the Talai family among them Nancy were
charged with malicious damage of property contrary to section 339 of
penal code.

The court heard that Nancy Talai, Margret Talai,Lydia Talai,Simon
Talai,Philemon Kiptoo and Collins Talai on March 22,2023 on land
parcel no 7991/Kesses at Moi University area, unlawfully damaged the
fencing poles and barbed wire all valued at Sh674,375 property of
Eunice Talai.

All the accused persons denied the charge and were each released on
Sh100, 000 bonds with an alternative cash bail of Sh50, 000.

Efforts to deny the accused bond were thwarted by the court when the
Presiding magistrate Christine Menya ruled in their favor.

Prosecution had objected to their release on bond claiming that the
environment on the ground is hostile and if the accused were released
on bond, there was a likelihood of bloodshed.

However, Eldoret Principal Magistrate Christine Menya declined to
yield to the application by prosecution since there was no probation
report in court to support the claims by the state counsel Jamlek
Murithi.

In her ruling Ms Menya noted that the majority of the accused were
elderly women and it was not fit to continue detaining them at Eldoret
GK women remand prison due to failure by probation officers to present
in court their report in relation to the case as earlier directed.

“It is unfortunate that this court had directed probation officers to
present in court pre-bail reports today but they have failed with no
proper explanation.