A 47-year-old widow in Uasin Gishu County is crying for justice after a group of ruthless goons hired by her brother-in-law demolished her home, thus rendering her and her six children homeless.
The more than 20 goons aged between 20 and 35 years descended on the matrimonial home of Rose Rotich, throwing out her property including beddings, clothes and utensils out as she watched the drama in disbelief from a distance.
She claimed that the tussle with her brother-in-law Elias Busienei over the disputed 26 acres of agricultural land started after her husband, Johana Rotich passed away 12 years ago.
“Where will I go with my six children now that my brother-in-law has evicted me from my matrimonial home and taken over the estate of my late husband,” cried Rotich.
The widowed mother of six from Kipsoen village in Tembelio ward within Moiben Sub County claimed that the land in question was illegally acquired by her husband’s brother-in-law.
Speaking to Mwanahabari.co.ke at her demolished matrimonial home, W Rotich said that she has been left in the cold together with her children following an unexpected eviction mission carried by hired goons masterminded by her brother in-law.
She said initially the entire land was 26 acres but Busienei has been using fake documents to sell it to various unsuspecting buyers until it was reduced to current nine acres.
“My husband acquired this land in 1978 through shares awarded to squatters at Kaptuktuk settlement scheme and since he was working with Kenya Railways in Mombasa, he entrusted his brother in law as a caretaker of his property.
“My brother in law then used, through fraudulent means, my husband’s national identification card and other documents to transfer our property to himself,” narrated the widow.
Rotich said that efforts by the local council of elders to convince Businenei to surrender the parcel of land to her fell on deaf ears, vowing to evict her from the property claiming that he was the rightful owner of the same.
This is after his brother-in-law moved to Eldoret court seeking eviction order upon presenting documents he acquired through forgery indicating that he bought the land from his deceased elder brother.
She claimed that her pleas to the hired goons to allow her to look for an alternative place to settle her young family bore no fruits as they continued to demolish the structures that stand in the five-acre piece of land while under the supervision of a team of police officers.
Rotich lamented that the trust her late husband had in his brother-in-law has cost her dearly.
“The trust that my late husband had to his brother as a caretaker of his property has now rendered his family homeless, where will I take my six children after losing everything,” posed Rotich.
She said that all was well until the death of her husband in 2009.
She said that her husband’s brother earlier on accepted to own four acres of land and allow her to stay on the remaining five acres.
Busienei dismissed a directive by the council of elders and moved to court in 2014 seeking eviction orders as he claimed to be the genuine owner of the land in dispute.
The tearful widow said that due to financial challenges, her efforts to appeal the ruling are yet to bear fruits.
She said that she has almost sold everything to facilitate a lawyer’s fees who was representing her during the entire hearing of the eviction case.
“I have sold nearly everything we owned as a family to fight for this land and now I have no money to facilitate an appeal against the high court ruling,” said the widow.
The case was heard and determined by the Eldoret Land and Environment court which issued the eviction order.
The widow is now appealing to newly appointed Chief Justice Martha Koome, her Uasin Gishu Women Rep Gladys Boss Shollei, among other leaders to help her reclaim her property for the sake of her children saying that she had nowhere to seek refuge and had lost nearly everything.
Area police boss Robert Tum said police were only implementing a court order and exonerated his officers from any blame over the land related dispute between the widow and her brother-in-law.
Tum said that he confirmed from the court that the order was genuine before implementing it to the letter.
“As police officers we are not party to this matter, we only came in to implement the order after confirming that it was a genuine valid court document,” said Tum.