In-law rips off widow in joint title ownership

Two brothers, Mutahi and Wanjohi, held a joint title deed to a three-acre parcel of land in Ruiru. The land buying company had parcelled the land into three-acre plots and sold it off to various clients and since the two brothers were close, they decided to pool resources and buy one piece.

Unfortunately, Mutahi passed away before they agreed on how they would share the land. However, before his death, the two had discussed the possibility of the land ultimately reverting to one of them with the beneficiary buying a comparable piece of land for the other elsewhere.

Each had worked hard to build up savings with an eye on developing the land. At the time of Mutahi’s death, the title deed was in his possession. Wanjohi only had a copy.

Months after his brother’s death, Wanjohi paid his sister-in-law (Mutahi’s wife) a visit and told her what had brought him to her home.

“I have recently talked to one of the influential directors at the land buying company and he has told me that there is something that he can do to allocate us a plot that is at a better location than the one we have,” he told the widow who knew about the joint ownership and was now in possession of the title deed.

“The plots have not been fully allocated?” asked the widow.

Wanjohi told her that there were some shareholders who had failed to pay for the plots allocated to them and as a result, had forfeited them.

The widow empathised with the unnamed persons and said that in such situations, “there is nothing we can do”.

Wanjohi told her that the title deed in her possession would have to be surrendered to the company and a new one for the plot near the main road issued. Wanjohi said that his friendship with the director went back many years and that he could tell that he was a true friend.

She went into her bedroom and came back with two tattered brown envelopes and placed them on the table.

“You can look for it,” she told Wanjohi, who patiently looked for the title deed.

“It is here,” he said as he placed it on the table, then folded the title deed and put it inside his inner coat pocket. 

Land reverting

Wanjohi told the widow that he and Mutahi had discussed the possibility of the land reverting to one of them one day. He wanted to know whether he ever mentioned the same to her. She said he had.

But she said that since he was now gone, everything had come crashing down. She asked him to sell the plot and refund the money to her and her two sons who wanted money to start small business. She said she would contact her sons so that they could meet and agree on the amount of money they would get from him.

Wanjohi left promising to talk to her soon and avail the money the sons needed but when weeks went by without a word, the widow became concerned and went to his home to look for him.

But he was not home. She left word that he should contact her. He did not.

One day, she went to his house before dawn and found him. He told her that he had not been in touch because “the process of replacing the title deed was on-going”.

A few weeks later, the widow and her sons were shocked to learn that Wanjohi had already sold the plot and disappeared into thin air.