Too's widows to jointly administer his Sh7 billion estate

The two widows of powerful Kanu era politician the Mark Too have agreed to be administrators of his vast estate valued at more than Sh7 billion.

Too died on December 31, 2016, of heart attack aged 60. He was a close ally of former President Daniel Moi.

Mary Jepkemboi and Sophia Jelimo had differed and filed separate succession cases at the High Court in Eldoret but on Tuesday changed their stand and agreed to jointly administer the estate.

High Court judge Samwel Githinji ordered that the two be administrators after the consent between them.

“By consent of all the parties, I declare the two widows as administrators of the estate. It is hereby agreed that letters of administration to the estate of the late Mark Kiptarbei Too are issued to the two widows… The two will come up with a list of what constitutes the entire estate,” he said.

The estate includes 19 farms in Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Nandi and Trans Nzoia counties; 10 trailers; 10 tractors; 11 vehicles; and shares in six companies.

The late Too also had interests in agribusiness; large-scale dairy, maize and wheat farming; and property and real estate. There are also multimillion-shilling homes in Muthaiga and Lavington in Nairobi, Milimani in Nakuru, and Elgon View in Eldoret.

He also had Sh500 million in bank accounts. The two widows had requested the High Court to grant them letters of administration because they had sorted out their earlier differences over the estate.

In 2018, the two widows had filed a joint case for letters of administration stating that “the deceased left behind a vast estate which is scattered and is at risk of being wasted if the court does not appoint an administrator urgently.” However a year later in 2019 they disagreed after Mary filed documents at the court insisting that she was the only legal wife of the deceased.

Sophia, however, testified before the court with witnesses to prove that she was Too’s second wife. Mary and step-son Moses Kiprotich had dismissed Sofia as a stranger in the family.

“We had a long relationship that led to marriage and three children,” Sophia said before Justice Samwel Githinji.

Sophia, who is represented by lawyer Tom Ojienda, told the court she first met Too in 1981 and they became friends and later bore their first child, Sandra Jerop, in 1985.

She further stated that Too officially sought her hand in marriage in 1988 and had the blessings of both their parents.

“We had our first child in 1985, and I continued to stay at my parents’ home until 1988 when my husband officially sought my hand in marriage and had the blessings of my parents,” Sophia stated.

Their marriage was under Nandi customary law and Sophia told the court that they later had two more children, Kevin and Sharon.

She stated that her husband and co-wife separated in 1995 and she exclusively lived with her husband until he died. But before the separation, Sophia said that her husband was involved in a road accident in mid-1995 and he had to seek treatment out of the country. She said they both took him for treatment in the UK where they stayed for five months.

In 1993, Sophia said she quit her teaching job to support her husband and later closed down her business to focus on their family ventures.

“My husband vied for the MP seat for Mosop, Eldoret South and Emgwen constituencies and I was with him all through even though he did not succeed,” Sofia said.

When Too died in 2016, Sophia said all funeral  arrangements were held at her Muthaiga and Sirikwa homes and that all the family members including her co-wife attended the meetings.

Too was buried at his second wife’s home at Sirikwa farm, Kapseret, in Uasin Gishu. Clement Tirop and Nelson Too, brothers to the late MP, also testified in support of Sophia, saying that their family recognised her as Too’s second wife.

Daniel Amos Too, son of the first wife Mary, also told court that they knew Sophia.

“We were aware that dad had another wife and other children and we lived together as one family. When I would come home while studying in the UK, I would visit my step- mother and my other siblings,” Amos said.

Edited by Henry Makori