Eliud Kipchoge & 4 Others Sued By Woman Over Ksh100 Million Property

The five were sued by Joyce Komen, a senior lecturer at Moi University in Eldoret and whose wife is former runner Daniel Komen.

Viral Tea Ke Writer Viral Tea Ke Writer
May 15, 2024 - 17:31 Updated: May 15, 2024 - 18:33
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Eliud Kipchoge & 4 Others Sued By Woman Over Ksh100 Million Property
Eliud Kipchoge speaking to the media on May 1, 2024. /ELIUD KIPCHOGE

Two-time Olympic champion and legendary Kenyan marathoner, Eliud Kipchoge, has been sued alongside four others over the ownership of a Ksh100 million matrimonial property involving the wife of a former runner.

The five were sued by Joyce Komen, a senior lecturer at Moi University in Eldoret and whose wife is former runner Daniel Komen, whom she has also sued.

Also sued alongside Kipchoge is Brimin Kipruto, the 2008 winner of the 3,000-metre steeplechase in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and two cereal farmers-cum-businessmen over what she terms as illegal sale of their matrimonial property.

In the case that has been filed at the High Court in Eldoret, Komen, who heads the university’s Department of Management Science, claimed that her husband sold the family property to the four defendants without involving her, despite having equal shares in the disputed parcel of land.

Signpost leading to the High Court in Eldoret. /PEOPLE DAILY

At the centre of the legal fight before Justice Reuben Nyakundi is a prime agricultural land measuring 200 acres, LR Number 8638/26, Southern East of Eldoret Municipality in Uasin Gishu County.

“I have also learned with shock that the property was sold at just Sh10 million, which represents just 10 per cent of the actual value of the land,” Komen says in an affidavit filed in court through her lawyer Patrick Kibii.

She also claimed to have contributed a substantial amount of money towards the development of the property, and that it is currently worth well over Ksh100 million.

“My husband has never mentioned it to me that he had sold the land, leave alone the intention to sell the property,” argues Komen in the documents before the court.

The disputed property, she added, was acquired and developed by joint efforts of the couple during their marriage, but was registered in the name of her husband in the trust of the family, further noting that she took various loans to fund the purchase and development of the property, which was the only family home as she married Komen at a time when he had no place to call home.

Komen told the judge that she got married to Mr Komen on November 5, 1998, through a church wedding in Eldoret, and that they are blessed with three children, a fact that her husband confirmed to the court.

The university don claimed the purported sale was riddled with fraud and deceit, and that no consent was obtained from the Lands Control Board since she was not invited to attend the board meeting.

Demands

Komen wants the court to determine whether the purported transaction conducted on February 8, 2012, between her husband and other defendants is a clear violation of her constitutional rights.

She also wants Justice Nyakundi to determine whether the purported transaction is a nullity for violating clear provisions of the law.

Additionally, the lecturer wants the court to determine whether, as a spouse, she is entitled to an equal share of the property in question, and whether she is entitled to costs and any other reliefs.

Former runner Daniel Komen. /PEOPLE DAILY

In his rejoinder, the former runner however dismissed his wife’s claims that they jointly owned the land, arguing that he is the sole registered owner of the suit property measuring 89.03 hectares.

He, however, admits that the plaintiff is his wife, whom she married on November 28, 1998, and that they were blessed with children.