Uasin Gishu politician Jackson Kibor wins land case 20 years later

By FAITH RONOH

Kenya: Uasin Gishu politician Jackson Kibor has won a 20-year-old case over a disputed Sh100 million land.

The High Court in Eldoret ordered Samuel Rono, who had bought the land from Kibor to leave the farm.

High Court Judge Festus Azangalala gave Rono 30 days to vacate the farm failure to which he would be evicted.

This followed failure by Rono to pay Kibor the full amount agreed for the land. In 1991, Kibor entered into a sale agreement with Rono to purchase the land at Sh22.5 million, a price that has accrued to more than Sh100 million. Rono, the defendant in the case, acquired Sh7.2 million loan from Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) to facilitate purchase of the land.

However, he only paid Kibor Sh4.9 million whilst servicing the AFC loan, paying Sh3.9 million.

Following Rono’s failure to pay him, Kibor moved into the land but the defendant hired hooligans to chase him away when he attempted to plough it. This forced him to seek legal redress through lawyers Paul Gicheru and Katwa Kigen.

In his judgement, Justice Azangalala noted that Ronoh moved to the suit property and went on to stay in Kibor’s house without paying the full amount, and at the same time used his food stores causing him great loss.

 “I have also found out that the defendant (Rono) did not complete payment of purchase price. He is, therefore, in breach of the sale agreement and has for that reason no basis for remaining on the land,” read the judgement.

The judge granted Kibor claim to evict Rono from the land and ordered that he refunds him the Sh4.9 million he had initially paid him.

Justice Azangalala also ordered Rono to pay Kibor costs to the suit and also bear his costs.