Nairobi-based lawyer seeks orders to evict mother and sister from property

A Nairobi-based lawyer wants her mother and sister evicted from a Sh30 million property in Mountain View Estate, Nairobi.

Amelia Jeptoo Cheisyna, daughter of former Lands Deputy Commissioner Elisha Chebii Chesiyna, sued her mother Christine Targok Chesiyna, 64, and her sister Amanda Jerubet Chesiyna at the Kikuyu Chief Magistrates Court.

Jeptoo claims the two trespassed into the property in her absence and evicted her tenant. According to Jeptoo, she reported the matter to Kabete Police Station but despite a warning by the police, her mother and sister are looking for a new tenant to occupy the house.

Jeptoo said she is the registered owner of the land through a sale agreement dated January 26, 2005, thus entitled to exclusive occupation and possession. “The defendants (Targok and Jeburet) between September 11 and September 23, 2020, trespassed into the premises interfering with my quiet enjoyment,” said Jeptoo, adding that the duo, on the said dates, wrote an eviction notice to her tenant.

She said the actions of her mother and sister were unlawful and malicious, as they intended to dispossess her. She wants the court to issue orders restraining her mother and sister from accessing the property. “This honourable court does issue an eviction order against the defendant, her servants, agents and dependants from LR No.12948/67 in Mountain View Estate,” reads the ruling. Targok, on her part, wants Jeptoo barred from misusing and wasting the property, which is her matrimonial home.

She claims that her husband purchased the property around 2005, and they lived in it for more than a decade. According to Targok, her estranged daughter took possession of the home after the demise of her father. She said the suit property is listed as part of the property of the late Chesiyna, and there is a pending succession suit in the High Court in Nakuru.

Chesiyna died on June 17, 2020, leaving behind a vast estate that is now at the centre of a succession dispute. So far, the estate is estimated to value over Sh500 million. The deceased owned several parcels of land in Nakuru, Baringo, Uasin Gishu and Mambrui. 

Among the properties listed is a 150-acre land in Molo, 70 acres of land in Menengai and Highrise Apartments. He is said to have had shares in Nasha Estate Limited, Nasha Property Consultants Limited and Kenya Commercial Bank.

He was survived by three widows; Christine Targok Chesiyna, Lucy Wanjiru Chesiyna and Susan Chepkurui and 16 children. The dispute over the control of the estate began in July, a month after the deceased died. The Kikuyu Chief Magistrate’s Court is set to deliver a ruling on September 2, 2021.