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Two people claiming to be the children of a prominent Uasin Gishu multi-millionaire, the late William Kopkoech Kibogy, have blocked his widow and daughter from being administrators to his vast estate.

Collins Kutto, 39 and Lena Chepkemboi Nel, 45 took the move to protest the decision by the widow, Asha Jepkemboi Kibogy and her daughter Jackie Chepkoskei Kibogy from side-lining them in the share of the estate.

Kibogy died intestate on July 8, 2006 aged 54 years leaving behind properties estimated at more than Sh100 million comprising maize and wheat farms in Moiben sub county and several prime plots scattered in Eldoret town.

He also left behind a surviving widow, Asha and four adult children, namely Jackie Chepkosgei Kibogy, Cornelius Korir Kibogy, Bruce Mark Kibogy and Samson Saidul Kibogy.

However, the widow and her children have disowned the two in a bitter succession battle for her late husband’s property.

According to the widow, the two have no right to claim a share of the deceased’s wealth because they are strangers to the family.

She added that there was no evidence that they were dependent on her husband when he was alive.

There is no sufficient evidence on record to show that they were dependents to the deceased and for that reason they cannot be considered as beneficiaries of his estate, argued Asha.

 In the case before Justice Reuben Nyakundi, the duo who were sired out of wedlock aver that they have evidence to prove that they are the biological children of the deceased.

She expressed shock over refusal by the administrators of her late father’s estate to lock her out of the entire process of sharing it and yet she has been close to the family when the deceased was alive.

“I used to come and visit my father on several occasions when he was still alive and he is the one who introduced me to his entire family including the widow and her four children,” she told the Judge.

She further stated that it was her father who used to pay fees for her primary, secondary education and other necessities and the help stopped when he passed away 18 years ago.

 Nel argued that it was wrong for the administrators of their late father’s estate to discriminate against her on the ground that she was a stranger in the family.

“I went for a DNA test with full consent from the brother of my late father at an authorised government chemist and the outcome of the results showed that I am the biological daughter of the deceased,” stated Nel.

Private wing

In the court document, Collin Kutto said that when his father was sick and admitted at the private wing of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, he would visit and interact with his step mother. “I was introduced to my step siblings in 2006 after the burial of our father. Cornelius Korir Kibogy once asked me to join him for a meeting of cereal farmers that was being held at Kerio dream in Eldoret town,” said Kutto.

The deceased’s elder sister Ruth Kibogy came to the defence of the duo saying that they are her late brother’s biological children born out of wedlock and are entitled to a share of his property based on a DNA test.