Kibor’s widow seeks legal help after the alleged eviction from her marital home

The fourth and youngest widow of former prominent Eldoret farmer and politician Jackson Kibor has approached the High Court seeking protection.

Eunita Kibor alleges that she has been evicted from her marital home along with her four children and now faces threats of being evicted from the 300-acre Mafuta farm that Kibor gave her before his death.

In an application filed under a certificate of urgency, Eunita and her children claim that Kibor’s other sons and daughters have banded together to thwart her and ensure that she loses her entire inheritance.

She alleges that her stepchildren have acted in violation of an active court order preventing any of the beneficiaries from interfering with the estate.

However, all of the defendants have presented their responses and accuse Eunita of interfering with assets and disobeying court orders.

Kibor left behind a vast estate valued at more than Sh16 billion, which is at the center of a fierce succession battle involving his widows and children.

The estate includes more than 6,000 acres in Uasin Gishu.

Eunita has accused her stepsons of contempt of court for interfering with three parcels of land on the estate.

She has also accused her stepchildren of cruelty and abuse, alleging that three months after Mzee Kibor’s burial, her stepsons illegally evicted her and her children from their matrimonial home in Kabenes.

“After Kibor’s death, my fundamental rights and freedoms have been seriously violated, infringed and threatened,” Eunita argues in court documents to which the Star had access.

Kibor died on March 17, 2022, leaving three widows and 29 children.

Eunita and her children appeared before High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi, who is hearing the family succession dispute.

She says her eldest son was forced to temporarily suspend his studies abroad and return to the country for fear that his family would be harmed.

Justice Nyakundi sought to know the whereabouts of Eunita’s eldest son, who was asked to appear in court proving that he had returned home from abroad.

Eunita, 45, says she has suffered acts of violence, torture, abuse, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment at the hands of those surveyed, by themselves or through people acting on their behalf.

She also accuses the defendants of threatening her and freezing bank accounts that contained funds intended for the care of her children, making it difficult for her to meet her basic needs.

Eunita is represented by advocates Kalya and Company.

She maintains that Kibor supported her and her four children with income generated from his rental units in Eldoret and from farming activities on the Mafuta farm, which measures 143 hectares (353 acres) and from other farms measuring approximately 1,600 acres in Kabenes.

Eunita wants the court to revise its preservation orders issued in November 2022 to specify the land each home occupies, saying doing so will protect her and her children.

She also wants the eight respondents and any member of her family to be prevented from trespassing or interfering with the properties she occupies and from collecting rent on the rental units Kibor left behind.

Justice Nyakundi issued orders to preserve the estate from any interference until the succession dispute is heard and resolved.

He ordered that Eunita’s application be heard on May 20, 2024.