This archive report was first published on 19 September 2019.
Land Inheritance Conundrum for Nicholas Ouma Obonyo ¶
September 19, 2019
Nicholas Ouma Obonyo, a 42-year-old former prisoner, is facing a daunting challenge after discovering that his mother sold or reallocated the land she inherited from her parents.
Obonyo's mother inherited the land in Siaya County after her parents passed away, but she proceeded to sell and reallocate it as she wished. The current occupants of the land are relatives who bought it from his mother.
Obonyo claims that his maternal grandmother gave him a parcel of land, which he used to till for subsistence before his arrest in 2000. However, he was sentenced to death on January 17, 2001, for robbery with violence and spent 19 years in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
"I was imprisoned before changing ownership of the land into my name. My mother sold or gave out all the land. Maybe she assumed that I would never leave prison," Obonyo said.
Obonyo's father died while he was in prison, and he returned to find that his two children had died and his wife had left. His semi-permanent house had also collapsed years ago.
"I want my mother to give me a small part of the land she got from her parents because I am one of her children. I don't have anything. I want to build a home and start my life afresh," Obonyo said.
However, recent court rulings have turned this perception on its head. In April this year, High Court Judge William Musyoka held that grandchildren can only inherit their grandparents' property through their parents.
"The only time grandchildren inherit directly from their grandparents is when the grandchildren's own parents are dead. The grandchildren step into the shoes of their parents and take directly the share that ought to have gone to the said parents," Justice Musyoka ruled.
Family lawyer Judy Thongori said that once one is educated by the parents, one has no right to their property. "Unless the child is a special needs child; such as one with mental or physical health issues, or a minor, they have no right to claim their parents' property," Thongori said.
Article 40 of the Kenyan Constitution gives men and women equal rights to land ownership. Earlier in the year, High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi ruled that six sisters be given part of their father's estate after a lengthy legal tussle.
Deputy Chief Land Registrar Pauline Muriithi handed the women land title deeds at Cheborgei in Bureti, Kericho County, on April 13. Each of the beneficiaries got a five-acre piece of land out of the family's 42 acres.
