Kibor files for divorce after 51 years of marriage

Veteran politician Jackson Kibor gives his views on constitutional commissions during a public forum at Uasin Gishu's county hall in Eldoret town on September 16, 2015. He has filed for divorce against his second wife. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In the lawsuit, the 82-year-old farmer is seeking to end his 51-year-old marriage to his wife with whom they have six children.
  • In her defence, Josephine dismissed the allegations, saying she has committed to their marriage, having invested time and resources in it. 

Mr Jackson Kibor, a once powerful, Kanu bigwig and close confidant of former president Moi, has filed a divorce case against his second wife at an Eldoret court.

Mr Kibor married her in 1965.

Mr Kibor, respected for his political and financial muscle among the Kalenjin community, filed for divorce and accused his wife, Josephine Jepkoech Kibor, of desertion, cruelty and interfering with his ownership of an 800-acre piece of land in Kipkabus, Uasin Gishu County.

In the lawsuit, the 82-year-old farmer is seeking to end his 51-year-old marriage to his wife with whom they have six children.

He told senior principal magistrate Charles Obulutsa on Friday that he has not spent time with Josephine for more than 30 years and, as such, he wants the court to nullify the marriage.

In her defence, Josephine dismissed the allegations, saying she has committed to their marriage, having invested time and resources in it. 

She further told the court that her husband left their matrimonial home in Kipkabus area in 1975 voluntarily and it was his preference to live with his third wife, Naomi Kibor, in Ziwa area.

The dispute centers around a row over their co-owned 800-acre piece of land at their matrimonial home in Kipkabus.

In her defence, she said Mr Kibor filed the case after she stopped him from selling 200 acres of their land.

Mr Kibor is not a stranger to court disputes with family members.

In May, he moved to court to bar the transfer of land to his sons, despite having subdivided it to them as a sign of inheritance.

The case will be heard on November 9.