A Kenyan man based in the UK wants the court to evict his aunt from a property in Uthiru, Kiambu, which he claims belongs to his late father.
Raoul Muchene, who has dual citizenship, has taken his aunt Rachael Mwaura to court claiming she wants to fraudulently obtain his inheritance.
Mwaura appeared before Justice Mboya on Thursday and testified in the case.
She said her late father Caxton Mukiri gave her the house and so she cannot move even though the land belongs to her late brother.
The main issue of dispute is the house that used to be the family home where she moved in over 40 years ago after her divorce.
While being cross-examined by Raoul’s lawyer Danstan Omari, Mwaura said she heard her father tell her brother that he should allow her to stay in that house.
However, she told the court that she does not remember when her father said that.
She said she has the other property given to her by her father which she has developed into commercial and residential houses.
In her testimony, she said she had never met Raoul, 45, until last year when he came to Kenya to testify in the case.
According to court documents, the said property was given to his late father Godfrey Muchene by his late grandfather in 1988 and his father transferred the land to him.
It is alleged that Raoul’s grandfather gave all his five children five parcels of land before he died in 2007.
The land in dispute is where the family homestead was built and the same was given to his late father by the Kikuyu customary law which requires the first son to inherit the family homestead.
After her separation from her husband in 1980, she went back home where she was welcomed by her parents to stay at the family house.
Raoul said his aunt was allowed back with her children to stay there temporarily as she prepared to develop her share of the family property which she had been allocated by her father.
He said his father allowed his aunt to stay on the land since he lived and worked in the UK and had no immediate plans to develop the said property.
Raoul said his aunt sold a portion of her land and the other portion she developed commercial and residential houses for rental purposes.
When his father retired from employment, he came back to Kenya to develop a home for his family but his sister refused to surrender the same even though he had only allowed her to stay there temporarily.
He said efforts to recover the property and develop the same have now hit a sang with his aunt's refusal to vacate.
Raoul said the aunt continues to reap the benefits of his property which she developed while still staying in the disputed land.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
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