DNA test surest way to determine owner of calf between two claimants

By TITUS MURITHI

MERU, KENYA; A cow and a calf will have to undergo DNA test to determine who is the owner between two women who are both claiming ownership.

One of the women claims she bought the calf and its mother while the other says the calf was mothered by one of her cows which she later sold after it fell into a river and got injured.

The most interesting thing is that the calf at the centre of the controversy was found tethered at the Meru police station by Esther Kajuki, one of the women claiming the calf is hers, while Magdalene Kendi, the other claimant says she’s been tethering her cows at the station for a long time.

Kajuki from Nkabune in North Imenti claims that her calf was stolen from her home on Dec 9 last year while she and members of her family were not at home.

Kajuki further said that she had bought the cow that gave birth to the calf together with the calf when the latter was only one month old. She said she bought both the cow and the calf at Sh38, 000, on April 14, 2013.

On the other hand, Kendi claims that the calf was given birth to by one of her cows which later fell into river Kathita and she had to sell it as it had been badly hurt. She claims to have other cows which have been grazing at the empty space at the police station.

Kajuki who was accompanied by her younger son, Timothy Mwiti, happened to pass through Meru police station to make a shortcut to the lands office when her son allegedly spotted the calf and alerted her.

She said upon careful inspection that she found the calf which was stolen from her home. She immediately reported to police and the Officer Commanding the Station (OCS) told her to bring the calf near the police office and wait for whoever comes for it.

Bitter words

Within a short time, Kendi came and untied the calf from where it had been tethered by Kajuki and she was called by the OCS to shed light about the calf. Both women started exchanging bitter words as they claimed the ownership of the calf.

“This calf was calved by one of my cows which later fell into river Kathita and I had to sell it as it was badly hurt. I have other cows which I have been grazing at the open spaces in this station for a long time now and those who pass through here even the police officers themselves know my cows very well,” said Kendi as she claimed ownership of  the calf.

As the women got ahead to claim ownership of the calf, the OCS decided to seek the services of a vet specialist who was hurriedly called to the station to help solve the problem.

He at the same time told Kajuki to bring the cow which she claimed to have calved the calf to the station and her children quickly brought it.

Verification

“I bought this calf together with its mother at Sh38, 000 at around May or June last year and by then the calf was only one month old. From the market place to my home, I had to carry the calf as it was very small to walk that long distance from Katheri where I had bought them,” she said:

“The calf was stolen from my home. I had told my elder son to take care of my home during that time and when he arrived home at around 10pm,  the calf was missing. He called me instructing me to report to the chief that  the calf was missing. The following day I reported to the chief about my missing calf,” said Kajuki.

The vet said that one way to verify if it was Kajuki’s cow that had calved that calf was to look if the bodily physical features were similar and if they didn’t agree on that they can seek for DNA test which was to be conducted at Kabete.

Both women failed to come to an agreement and Kajuki with her children said they are ready for DNA to be conducted on both the cow and the calf.

“We can even go for a DNA test on both the cow and the calf so that it can be proved beyond doubts that this calf was calved by my cow. I have inspected the calf and I have found out that even the rope that I used to tether it with before it was stolen is still the one tied to it. The calf also has an eye problem which was caused by my younger son when he hurt it while grazing it before it was stolen,” said Kajuki.

Kendi said because Kajuki and her children were for DNA test they were the ones to cater for costs.

“Because they are the ones who have requested for DNA test they are the ones who will bear the cost. I have no problem with  DNA test being carried out on both the cow and the calf but they should be prepared to pay for expenses,” said Kendi.

By the time of going to press, both women had been told to go home and each instructed to bring documents to ascertain when their cows were inseminated and when the calf was born and then wait for further instructions.