By E, KNA
The High Court in Eldoret has barred the Director General of the Electricity and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), Daniel Kiptoo, from developing a family land in Uasin Gishu County that is subject to a succession dispute.
Justice Reuben Nyakundi, issuing the ruling, granted a temporary injunction in favour of Kiptoo’s half-sister, Loise Jerop.
“The respondent is specifically restrained from establishing or continuing the construction of any petrol station, greenhouses, water bank or any other commercial infrastructure on the said property until there is a consensus by both parties on proper administration and distribution of the estate,” ruled Justice Nyakundi.
The disputed parcel, Kiplombe/Kuinet Block 2 (Rotich and Birech) 21, measures 22.29 hectares and lies along the Eldoret-Ziwa highway.
The Judge directed administrators of the late Barnabas Bargoria’s multi-billion-shilling estate to apply for confirmation of the Grant without delay and ordered the preservation of the land until the succession case is resolved. The orders were also served to the Soy OCS, the area chief, and the Deputy Registrar of the High Court.
A status conference has been scheduled for September 18, 2025, to monitor compliance.
Jerop, in her application, accused Kiptoo of unilaterally undertaking multi-million-shilling projects on their late father’s land without the consent of other beneficiaries. She argued that such actions amounted to intermeddling and risked wasting the estate.
Kiptoo denied the allegations, saying there was no evidence of the projects cited, and opposed the injunction. However, Justice Nyakundi ruled that Jerop stood to suffer irreparable harm if the property was developed before the succession process was complete.
He observed that granting the injunction was necessary to preserve the estate and protect the interests of all beneficiaries.
“The respondent’s actions in developing commercial infrastructure on the estate property without authorization under the Law of Succession Act constitute intermeddling,” the Judge ruled.
The dispute is part of a bitter inheritance row among Bargoria’s two widows and their seven children.
Bargoria, a former National Irrigation Board Managing Director during the KANU era, died in November 2020. His vast estate, including the disputed parcel, is yet to be distributed.
