Nandi:Land row between former Minister and Councillor moves to Supreme Court!
“We are hoping that we will now get justice in supreme court”
David Bisem son to the late councillor in the farm at the centre of dispute in Lessos within Nandi Hills
A twenty-year-old Sh100m land ownership dispute in Nandi county pitting the family of a former lands minister during the regime of retired president, the late Daniel Moi and a family of a former councillor has now moved to supreme court.
The dispute emanated from a debt of Sh90,090 by Hosea Kipchumba who was a son to the late councillor,Josiah Kibisem Sang allegedly owed to former lands minister and head of the civil service and permanent secretary in the office of the president in early 90s,Joseph Letting.
The family of the late Josiah Kibisem Sang, a former councillor is claiming that documents which were used in the land and environment court to award former lands minister Joseph Arap Letting the land in dispute were fraudulently acquired.
The land in dispute is known as Nandi Lessos/317 situated in Lessos town within Nandi Hills Sub County.
Sang’s family claimed that their efforts to question legality of the documents used in the case were thwarted in both high court and court of appeal.
To strengthen their move to supreme court the family engaged services of the Directorate of Criminal investigation, department on serious fraud to investigate the authenticity of the documents in question.
“We are happy with the kind of investigations that experts from DCI as well as document examiner experts, we are now set to argue our case in supreme court,” Said David Kipkogei Bisem son to the deceased councillor.
The family of the late councillor has insisted that they did not sell the said property to the late minister as it was indicated in court documents.
Mr Bisem said his late elder brother told the family he did not owe the minister the said amount nor did he sell any part of the land in question as claimed by the former minister.
Mr Bisem said the manner in which the entire transaction was done was not procedural, bearing in mind that succession was done fraudulently and at one point it was nullified by justice Mohammed Ibrahim.
“A keen look at the said transaction will quickly establish that the authors of the documents used were under some duress to process the documents since several steps were not followed in sequence as required,” said Mr Bisem.
The former minister had told the court that he acquired the property as compensation for a debt of Sh90,090 that a deceased son of the late councillor had borrowed from him.
He claimed that one of the grounds that led him to acquire the property was a result of Sh90,090 debt that the deceased son to the late councillor owed him.
According to Mr Bisem, the late minister used his position to intimidate his ailing brother before laying claim to ownership of their land.
“We are hoping that we will now get justice in supreme court due to investigations that have been done by officers from DCI,” said Mr Bisem.
Lawyer Elijah Momanyi representing the embattled family said that he was not satisfied with the decision of the high court as well as the court of appeal.
Mr Momanyi maintained that his clients has not been served with justice bearing in mind that they have overwhelming evidence to prove his case.
Mr Momanyi said that with the case now resting with the Supreme Court, his client hopes to get justice.
“I wonder how someone can claim that he acquired family land as a result of the debt that one of the members of the family owed him. The same clearly constitutes meddling in the estate of the deceased person,” said Mr Momanyi.
Mr Momanyi expressed hope that if the supreme court will listen to his client then justice will prevail.
However, the family of the accused former minister has insisted that they followed due process of law to acquire the property.
“An intense look at the said transaction quickly establishes that the authors of the documents used were under some duress to process the documents since several steps were not followed in sequence as required,” said Mr Bisem.
“We have been distressed with the judgment at the court of appeal despite us producing in court what we believe are elements of fraud, the court of appeal went on to upheld the ruling at high court,” said Mr Bisem who is the main appellant.
In the ruling that was made by the high court, the court observed that there was evidence that Joseph Arap Letting entered into an agreement for sale with Hosea Kipchumba, a beneficiary of the estate of Josiah Kibisem Arap Sang.
While making the decision, court of appeal Judge, Justice Mumbi Ngugi upheld the ruling by the high court in Eldoret despite records in the land’s office demonstrating glaring anomalies in the processing of the title deeds.
“It is my view that the trial court duly found appellant ‘s application was devoid of merit. I accordingly dismiss the appeal with cost to the respondents,” ruled Justice Mumbi Ngugi in Kisumu on March 17, 2023
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