Aggrieved Nakuru businessman wants surveyor in court over road on kins' graves

A Nakuru businessman wants the court to summon a land surveyor after his sketch maps indicated that a road in Njoro sub-County will pass over the graves of his six relatives.

David Karanja, son of businessman Samuel Kabaiku, has accused his sister Hannah Njoki of illegally engaging a land surveyor to sub-divide their nine-acre property into seven portions.

Mr Karanja, through his lawyer Owino Oenga, claims Ms Njoki did not consult him or other family members and went ahead to place beacons, disrupting the family’s living arrangements.

“My sister wants a road to pass directly on top of the burial site and decimate six graves of our family members, including our mother,” he says.

Mr Karanja claims that Ms Njoki used police officers and hired goons to destroy a house and kitchen belonging to a family member during the alleged survey.

According to Mr Karanja, the surveyor was hired during mediation talks ordered by the court in March last year, and he came up with three different sketches for re-survey and sub-division of the land to avert a family dispute.

Burial site

The court had referred the matter for mediation after Mr Karanja raised concerns that the burial sites would be destroyed during sub-division of the property.

Mr Karanja claims Ms Njoki and her lawyer refused to sign the mediation agreement that would have seen the land re-surveyed before sub-division.

The mediation talks collapsed on June 30.

Mr Karanja now wants the surveyor to appear before Justice Joel Ngugi, present the sketches and tell the court which one would be appropriate. 

He also wants the court to stop any activity on the property until his application is heard and determined. The two siblings have been battling for control of the property since 1997.

Mr Karanja is challenging a move by Ms Njoki on September 30, 2019, in which she wanted him to surrender the original title deed in order to register the land for sub-division.

Ms Njoki has been the administrator of the estate since March 3, 2015, when she replaced their mother, Rahab Wanjiku, who died on July 7, 2008.

Feels entitled

Mr Karanja feels more entitled to manage the family’s affairs because he is the first born son while Ms Njoki, who is the first born child in the family, claims she is more responsible and qualified to manage the property.

Mr Karanja accuses his sister of using fraudulent means to take control of the land.

Kabaiku died on July 31, 1988, aged 76. He owned various properties, 11 head of cattle and had an unknown amount of money in several bank accounts.

The siblings have picked up the inheritance battle from their mother Wanjiku and step-mother Naomi Njeri.

The two women had fought for control of the property from 1991 but settled the matter after signing a consent on November 24, 1997. Wanjiku was allocated nine acres while Njeri got six acres.

The case will be mentioned today.