When court orders mean nothing: A 90-year-old woman's 48-year land struggle
Cheptanui Sinyei Rotich, 90, has been fighting for the ownership of a 44-acre parcel of land in Elgeyo Marakwet County since 1978. She now looks to Chief Justice Martha Koome as perhaps her last hope to right this decades-old wrong before time runs out.
What you need to know:
- At 90, Cheptanui Sinyei Rotich has fought for 48 years to reclaim her 44-acre inheritance that was stolen through deception in 1978.
- Despite winning multiple court rulings, seven land grabbers, including her own sons, continue to defy judicial orders with apparent impunity.
The soot from her cooking pot stains her thumb as she presses it against the paper. The men tower over her, their shadows darkening the already dimly lit room. At that moment in 1978, Cheptanui Sinyei Rotich couldn't have known that this forced thumbprint would spark a battle spanning nearly half a century—a fight that would consume her twilight years.
"They forced my thumbprint onto papers using soot from a sufuria (cooking pot)," the now 90-year-old grandmother recalls, her voice carrying the weight of decades of injustice.
For 48 years, Cheptanui has been locked in a relentless struggle to reclaim ownership of a 44-acre prime parcel of land in Elgeyo Marakwet County. The disputed property—in the Kapcherop area—represents more than just soil and boundaries; it's her mother's legacy, her birth right, and the inheritance she hoped to pass down to future generations.
But seven inThe granny still fighting for land in case pending before court for 52 yearsdividuals, including two of her own sons, allegedly seized the land in 1978 and have continued to occupy it illegally. The painful betrayal cuts deeper than any legal document ever could.
"I have fought for this land for 48 years. The justice system has failed me," Cheptanui says, her weathered hands trembling slightly as she speaks.
The alleged land grabbers have not only taken her property but have blocked the main feeder road to her homestead—a physical manifestation of their determination to isolate and defeat her. Yet, despite her advanced age and diminishing resources, her resolve remains unbroken.
A labyrinth of justice
Her formal quest for justice began in 1986 when she approached the then Elgeyo Marakwet District Commissioner (DC), MO Chera. The DC summoned all parties to appear before him, but only Cheptanui showed up. The accused individuals simply ignored the summons, effectively torpedoing this first attempt at mediation.
With administrative intervention proving fruitless, Cheptanui turned to the courts in 1992. Listed as the second plaintiff, she filed a case at the Eldoret High Court against Chelanga Kiprotich, the defendant. After two years of proceedings, the court ruled in her favour—a victory that would prove to be merely the first battle in a long war.
The defendant quickly appealed the ruling at the Court of Appeal. What followed was a dizzying sequence of adjournments and legal manoeuvres, as the defence raised various technicalities that dragged the case out for another five years.
Once again, the court ruled in Cheptanui's favour. Yet, instead of justice being served, the defendants secured an injunction preventing her from evicting the occupants from her land. This injunction remained in place for more than five years.
When the court finally ordered the eviction, local police displayed a puzzling reluctance to implement the court's decision. They delayed for more than five more years, leaving Cheptanui in a bewildering legal limbo.
High cost of seeking justice
The emotional, physical, and financial toll on Cheptanui has been immense. At 90, she has spent more than half her life pursuing what rightfully belongs to her. Local leaders have attempted to intervene, but their efforts have consistently hit roadblocks, reportedly due to resistance from the "well-connected" individuals occupying her land.
In 2018, when the Judiciary launched an ambitious plan to clear the backlog of cases that had languished in court for more than five years, Cheptanui's hopes soared. Surely, her decades-old case would finally be resolved. Yet, disappointment followed once more.
The case has caught the attention of Eldoret-based human rights activists, including Kimutai Kirui, who has made an impassioned appeal to Chief Justice Martha Koome to intervene personally.
"This case has been moving from one court to another for nearly five decades," Kirui notes. "If such a straightforward matter remains unresolved, what does that say about our justice system?"
Kirui doesn't mince words about what he believes is at the heart of this protracted injustice: "The case is a typical example of rampant corruption in the office of the Land Registrar and the judiciary system."
Glimmer of hope dimmed
The most recent development in this saga came on September 14, 2023, when the Eldoret Environment and Land Court issued a decree directing the Elgeyo Marakwet Land Registrar and surveyor to survey the land on behalf of Cheptanui as the absolute owner of the property, identified as LR Cherangany/Kapcherop/44.
The court ordered the defendant to amend the land register to reflect Cheptanui as the legal owner. Five defendants—Cheserek Chelang'a, William Rotich, Joel Kiple, Emily Ruto, and Joshua Bartenge—were explicitly ordered to keep off the land.
Justice Lucy Waithaka issued a comprehensive permanent injunction: "A permanent injunction restraining the defendants, their agents or servants from entering into, constructing, ploughing, fencing, selling, alienating, subdividing, leasing, demarcating surveying, charging, offering security or in any manner whatsoever dealing with or interfering with the plaintiffs' land parcel known as LR Cherangany/Kapcherop/44."
Yet, even with this seemingly definitive ruling, Cheptanui claims the defendants remain defiant, continuing to flout the court's decree. Nearly five decades after her land was first taken from her, this elderly woman is still pleading for the justice that continues to elude her.
As the sun sets on another day in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Cheptanui sits at her homestead, gazing toward the land that should have been hers to cultivate, to nurture, and to pass on. Her eyes reflect not just the weariness of her 90 years but the determination that has sustained her through this seemingly endless quest for justice.
She now looks to Chief Justice Martha Koome as perhaps her last hope to right this decades-old wrong before time runs out.