By Horizon News Reporter
The succession dispute involving the first wife of the late former Housing Minister Soita Shitanda has taken a dramatic turn, as she has denied knowing the co-wives and their children and is seeking to have them excluded from inheriting his property, valued at over Shs100 million.
In the succession case No. 1520 of 2016 concerning the estate of the late Peter Soita Shitanda, the deceased’s widow, Betty Glorious Soita, testified in court and explicitly disowned the children of the late minister born to his second wife, Agnes Nduku.
The widow informed Justice Hillary Chemitei at the Milimani High Court that she did not recognize Candy Soita and Brandy Soita as her late husband’s children, despite acknowledging that he had supported them during his lifetime, including paying their school fees and catering to their needs until his death in 2016.
Candy,who is currently based in the United States, presented evidence on behalf of herself and her brother, Brandy Soita, urging the court to recognize them as lawful beneficiaries of the late Peter Soita Shitanda’s estate. She also requested to be appointed as a co-administrator of the estate, a request that Betty vehemently opposed.
She further asserted that Peter Soita Shitanda was her biological father, a fact she claimed to have known her entire life.
In the evidence presented in court, Betty, along with her son Terrence Shitanda and brother-in-law Ngaira Shitanda, sought to exclude the late minister’s other children, Candy and Brandy Soita, from their late father’s estate.
In a letter dated 11th May 2017, the area chief of Matioli location, Daniel Chimuche, recognized only the children of the deceased born to Betty, excluding any children born out of wedlock or from other marriages.
This prompted Candy’s lawyer to question Betty, putting her under pressure to explain why she had deliberately omitted them from this crucial document, despite having known about their existence all along.
In her evidence, Candy accused Betty of squandering their father’s property by selling it before the succession process was concluded. She questioned why their father’s estate had been estimated at only Kshs. 70 million, pointing out to the court that several prime properties appeared to have been intentionally omitted without any plausible explanation.
Betty shocked the court when she revealed that Candy and Brandy had been omitted from their father’s eulogy, which was prepared by Ngaira Shitanda. She argued that she was bound by her in-law’s decision to disown the two children.
Candy and Brandy presented evidence in the form of their birth certificates, which bore the name of their father, Peter Soita Shitanda. They also provided school fee receipts showing that their father had been financially supporting them until his death in 2016.
The matter is scheduled for a ruling on 11th February 2025.
In a related case, the Environment and Land Court in Bungoma, in ELC Case No. 004 of 2022, delivered a judgment on 9th May 2024.
The matter, filed by Betty Glorious Soita on behalf of the estate of the late Shitanda against Kabras Farm Limited, Agricultural Finance Corporation, and George Malumasi, affirmed that the disputed land belonged to the company in question and not to any individual directors.
The lawsuit filed by the first wife aimed to secure full ownership and administration of the estate, accusing the three parties of trespassing and encroaching on land parcel number Bungoma/Kabuyefwe/271, situated in the Pwani Scheme, Bungoma County, and measuring 100 acres.
Court documents reveal that the widow of the late minister was the first to file a lawsuit, suing a company known as Kabras Farm Limited and one of its directors, George Malumasi. She sought eviction orders and a declaration that the disputed land belonged to the estate of the deceased.
The late Peter Soita Shitanda held a 50% share in Kabras Farm Limited, while his co-director, George Malumasi, owned the remaining 50%.
However, the first wife sought exclusive ownership of the land, seeking to exclude both the company and the surviving director from any claims to the property.
The suit was dismissed, and the widow was ordered to pay Sh 1.3 million in costs and damages for trespass following a successful counterclaim by Kabras Farm Limited, which the court accepted, resulting in an eviction order being issued in favor of the company.
In its judgment, the court affirmed the principle that a company is a separate legal entity from its shareholders and directors.
It categorically stated that, under the strict interpretation of the law, the suit land belonged to the company. Consequently, the widow and her associates were deemed to have no individual rights to the land and were classified as trespassers.
The court further stated that any claim by the widow or her associates should be limited to the late minister Soita Shitanda’s 50% shareholding in Kabras Farm Limited. The court noted that these shares remain unallocated and should be addressed as part of the ongoing succession proceedings for the deceased’s estate.
Court documents confirmed that Betty Glorious Soita had illegally used the police to gain possession of the land after her husband’s passing in 2016. It was also revealed that she had repeatedly instigated the arrest of the surviving director, George Malumasi, whenever he attempted to access and utilize the land on behalf of the company.
Efforts to mediate or negotiate collapsed as the widow insisted that the property belonged solely to her husband, rejecting any claims from the company or its directors.
This matter is at the court of appeal Kisumu pending determination.
