Blood, courts and a Sh5b prize: Inside the Koinange-Mpoe land war

A police officer restrained a man wielding a machete after two factions, supporting the Mboe and Koinange families, clashed at Muthera Farm in Njoro, Nakuru County, on August 16, 2024. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

A long-running ownership dispute over a prime 4,296-acre agricultural property in Mau Narok, Nakuru County — valued at Sh5 billion — has descended into violence, deaths and protracted court battles involving the families of the late powerful politician Mbiyu Koinange and the late Kikenyi ole Mpoe.

The dispute, which has played out in both civil and criminal courts for decades, has at times erupted into bloody confrontations on the ground, turning the expansive Muthera Farm into a battleground.