Widow’s marital home demolished despite court order

A widow in Ugenya sub-county, Siaya was forced to spend the night in the cold with her three children after her home was demolished by hired goons yesterday. 

Rose Obiero, 46, says her house was demolished despite having an order from the High Court in Kisumu restraining  any activity on that land until the matter is fully resolved.

Miss Obiero had accused her stepmother-in law of selling her matrimonial home to unknown developer.

According to the widow whose husband died 17 years ago, her father in-law had given her the piece of land to put up a home in 2016.

She has been living there peacefully until 2018 when her stepmother in-law is alleged to have discretely sold the land.

The miserable widow said since then, the matter has been in court until the father in-law, who had been ailing, passed on in October last year. 

With the help of Federation of  Women Lawyers in Kenya (Fida-Kenya), Miss Obiero secured a lawyer to help her fight the case; unfortunately,  Ukwala Magistrates Court  issued a judgment in favour of the developer.

Through her lawyer, Hon Janet Anyango, she appealed against the ruling and obtained the order barring any activity on the land.

“We encountered brutality from a group of heavily built men. Armed with crude weapons, they stormed her home in the company of police and began the demolition, destroying everything on site and only left after bringing down her home,” said Anyango.

Speaking to People Daily, Miss Obiero said she  reported the case to the nearby Ukwala Police Station where she got no help, stating that neither the police nor the area assistant County Commissioner Veronica Naliaka, who had visited the police station gave her a listening ear.

 When contacted, Naliaka denied the claims, saying she advised the widow to avail the court order that had been issued to restrain the plaintiff from undertaking any development on that land so that they could find a way of helping her.

 However, the widow’s lawyer, Anyango, condemned the issue, noting that there is no way the court  could issue a demolition order when they had already been served with an appeal against the judgment.

Obiero noted that was a contempt of court because the High Court is yet to hear the case, and vowed to stay on it until such a time that the widow shall have gotten justice.