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Family Succession Wrangles Halt Development on Multi-Billion Uasin Gishu Estat
A simmering family succession dispute has once again spilled into the courts after the High Court in Eldoret stopped Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Director General, Daniel Kiptoo, from undertaking developments on a prime parcel of land in Uasin Gishu County.
The contested property, a 22.29-hectare estate located along the busy Eldoret–Ziwa highway in Kuinet, is part of the inheritance left behind by the late Barnabas Bargoria. The land, valued in the billions due to its strategic location, has become the focal point of a legal showdown between Kiptoo and his half-sister, Loise Jerop.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Reuben Nyakundi, the court issued an injunction restraining Kiptoo from putting up a petrol station, greenhouses, a water bank, or any other commercial projects on the land until the succession process is finalized.
The judge emphasized that until the Grant of Letters of Administration is confirmed and all beneficiaries are consulted, no developments should take place. “The applicant stands to suffer irreparable loss should the developments continue, as the property risks permanent alteration,” Justice Nyakundi ruled.
Jerop, who moved to court, accused her stepbrother of sidelining the rest of the family by pushing ahead with multi-million-shilling investments without their knowledge or consent. She argued that the land remains registered in their late father’s name, and that any unilateral developments amounted to intermeddling with the estate.
To enforce the orders, Justice Nyakundi directed that the injunction be served on the Soy Police Station OCS, the area chief, and the Deputy Registrar of the High Court.
Kiptoo, however, dismissed the accusations, saying Jerop had not provided concrete evidence to back her claims. He insisted that granting an injunction without proof would be unjust.
The case highlights the increasingly frequent inheritance battles in Kenya’s rapidly urbanizing counties, where high-value land is often left at the center of protracted family disputes. In Uasin Gishu, prime parcels such as the Kuinet estate continue to attract both economic interest and deep family rifts.
The ruling now puts pressure on the administrators of the Bargoria estate to hasten the succession process and reach a consensus before further legal hurdles escalate.
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