The supper last Wednesday was delicious. It was beef, sukuma wiki and ugali, and mother, son and family friend were happy. Then three armed men stormed the house in Sojo village, Sikawa sub location, Narok.
They were ordered by the gruff-looking men to lie flat on the floor and put their hands on their heads. All did, except Lilian Reteti Momboshi, the matriarch. She wanted to know what was happening, and if it was a robbery, give the burglars what they wanted.
Unfortunately, they were worse than thieves. They had come for her. Swiftly, they bound her son, Salaton Momboshi with a rope, and left with the 56-year-old woman who was bleeding heavily on the arm, which one of the attackers had cut using a machete.
However, before they left, the attackers, who appeared to be following instructions from a man who stood at the door all along, got into a heated argument. Two of them wanted to kill Salaton, while the third did not.
The argument was within earshot of the family friend identified as Kioni, who remained prostrate on the floor. The men finally reached a consensus and decided to spare the young man.
Shortly after their departure, the two survivors raised the alarm and the entire village launched a search. In a few hours, they found Reteti’s mutilated body six kilometres from her house in Sojo.
The matter was reported at Enoosaren Police Station under OB number 24/02/11/2022. The police rushed to the scene, processed it and took the body to St Teresa’s hospital mortuary in Kilgoris for post-mortem.
Suspects
On March 13, Reteti, who feared for her life, wrote and signed in her notebook the names of two people she believed were the prime suspects in her husband’s death in 2010.
A week since her death, her four orphaned children are not at ease. They believe their mother’s death is connected to a property tussle pitting her mother against their late father’s brother and their stepmother over the control of their father’s estate.
Lilian Reteti Momboshi, the wife to the late William Momboshi. Lilian, 56, was killed on November 2, 2022, by unknown attackers.
With an acre going for an average of Sh2 million, the family’s 100-acre farm is currently valued at Sh200 million. The land issue, the Nation has learnt, has been a fiery topic in the family’s history.
William Sankei Momboshi was killed in cold blood on November 10, 2010, at his farmhouse in Masurura. His son, Kelvin Momboshi, 28, vividly recounted how his father was sprayed with bullets when he left their house at night to check on what had caused his motorcycle to move. Evidently, the commotion was a ploy to get him out of the house and out in the open where his killers lay in wait.
“I heard several gunshots after father left the house to check if someone was trying to steal his motorcycle. I hid, and was shocked when I went outside a few moments later to find him lying in a pool of his own blood. Some wanted this land then, and they still want it now,” he told the Nation.
Twelve years later, his younger brother, Salaton witnessed nearly the same thing — their mother dragged out of the house to be executed.
Land battle
After their father’s death, a battle for the land ensued and the matter was taken to court after their step-mother Esther Magiro, alongside their paternal uncle, Samwel Momboshi, applied for letters of administration for their father’s estate.
The two told the court that the first widow, Reteti, had refused to renounce or apply for representation in an earlier succession case in 2013. However, this was resolved when the two widows jointly applied for the grant of letters of administration, which was granted on March 10, 2015.
In their application, Magiro listed Reteti, herself, and their children as beneficiaries of the estate. The property of the deceased included communal land at Masurura, plot number 52, Sikawa adjudication section, another plot at Kilgoris township, a plot at Osagan Trading Centre, an account in Kenya Commercial Bank and an insurance policy.
Reteti, however, filed an affidavit protesting the application for confirmation of grant, saying Magiro was not entitled to their husband’s property because she had not contributed to its acquisition and had even remarried. She also contested the inclusion of Magiro’s daughter as a beneficiary, because she was not their husband’s biological child.
The widow also protested the inclusion of her brother-in-law Momboshi as a beneficiary, and finally, she said some of her husband’s property had not been disclosed.
However, Magiro asked the court to follow the elders’ proposal of November 28, 2010, on the distribution of the property. The elders proposed that the livestock be shared equally between the two widows, the plots at Masurura and Sikawa, which had not been demarcated, be subdivided equally and that a plot within Kilgoris be given to Reteti.
The plot at Osagam Trading Centre awaiting demarcation was to be shared equally between the two houses upon confirmation from the county council. The money in the bank account was also to be shared equally.
Magiro was then to get one plot of land, and the other was to be given to Reteti. The elders then concluded that all the other farms should be shared equally between the two widows.
Reteti, however, opposed the elders’ proposal and suggested that she remain with the plot at Kilgoris, and that the Osagam Trading Centre property be shared equally between her and Magiro.
The Sikawa adjudication Section 52 and the land parcel at Masurura devolve to her entirely, since Magiro had not contributed to their acquisition, and she also suggested that one plot be devolved to Magiro, while she gets another. The proceeds from the plots were to be equally shared between the two widows and their children, and all other remaining properties be devolved to her and her children.
Bone of contention
It also emerged that the 100-acre farm at Sikawa, where Reteti had her last meal with her son, was to have been divided between Momboshi and his brother Samwel. However, the brothers never agreed on the sharing of the land and it had always been a bone of contention between them until Momboshi’s murder.
In May 2019, the court directed that the plot known as T/Mara/Olochani section 32, 33 and 34 in Kilgoris township and the developments be devolved to Reteti and that in the event of her death or remarriage, the property be shared equally among her children.
The plot at Osagam Trading Centre would be divided equally between the first and second house and the two widows would hold a life interest on their shares, which would go to their children upon their deaths or remarriage, the court ruled.
Plot Number 52, Sikawa adjudication section and the land parcel at Masurura was to be shared between the first and second house in the ratio of 5:2 in favour of the first house. Plot 14, A/C No. 716115 to devolve to Magiro, while plot number 130 “B A/C number 715354 be devolved to Reteti. Proceeds from plot numbers 712955, 715012, 713338 to devolve to Magiro while proceeds from 715050, 715353, 715356 to devolve to Reteti.
“Insurance pension policy shall be shared between the first and the second house in the ration of 5:2 in favour of the first house,” the court ordered.
Unhappy with the ruling, Magiro appealed but lost in August this year, when the High Court in Kisii found the appeal to be without merit and dismissed it.
“Following the court ruling in August, mother called the family and the elders and told them the process of subdivision should begin as soon as possible. We were in that process before her death,” Kelvin told the Nation.
The investigating officer working on the case confirmed that the motive behind Reteti’s death was the family land and property, adding that the police were piecing together evidence to lead them to the suspects.
“We have already established the motive of the murder. There are many speculations, but we have not made any arrest because we do not have any tangible evidence that can completely warrant an arrest. What we know is that the people behind this killing are close to the family,” he said.
Until the suspects are arrested and eventually put behind bars, the children believe they could be the killers’ next targets and are calling on the government to fast-track the investigations. BY DAILY NATION