A man’s attempt to disinherit his siblings by secretly selling their ancestral land has backfired after a court ordered that the property be returned to family.
Lucy Gacheru of the Environment and Lands Court brought an end to the dispute that dates back to 1974 when the family matriarch died and left his 2.5 acres in Limuru town, Kiambu County, to be held in trust by the eldest son on behalf of his younger brothers.
“There existed a customary trust over the ancestral land in favour of all the siblings who are entitled to a portion of it as had been proposed in 1974 when their father died. The alleged sale by their brother was null and void and must be cancelled forthwith,” ruled Gacheru.
The dispute was between George Kamau and Peter Mukuna against their brother Patrick Kagotho who secretly sold the land to one Erastus Njoroge.
Kamau told court that in 1974 after their father died, the family let Kagotho, being the eldest son, have the land registered in his name so he holds it in their trust because they were still young.
Kamau said their father was polygamous, with 10 children, and when he died, the larger family decided to share his wealth equally. His mother got 2.5 acres to be shared among her three sons.
He told court that in 1994 the three brothers subdivided and shared the land according to seniority, with Kagotho getting an acre, Mukuna 0.9 acre, and Kamau, got half an acre.
The brothers applied for consent from Land Control Board to proceed with sub-division after each of them was satisfied with the allocation and possessed their portions without applying for new titles for the sub-divided portions. Kagotho kept the mother title.
Kamau said trouble started in 1995 when Kagotho moved to Rift Valley. They occupied their portions until 2011 when they noticed strangers surveying their land. Out of suspicion, they conducted a search at the Lands’ registry where they found that their brother had secretly sold the land to Erastus Njoroge for Sh800,000.
