Jackson Kibor granted divorce from his second wife
Politician and farmer Jackson Kibor, who has been given permission to divorce his second wife, Josephine Jepkoech. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- When making his judgement, Mr Obulutsa said that from evidence produced in court the relationship between the two had gone sour and that it was impossible to be reconciled by a human being.
- On his part Mr Kibor said that he will set aside 10 acres of land for his estranged wife and build her a house as a favour because of her old age.
Veteran Uasin Gishu politician Jackson Kibor has been granted divorce from his second wife of 51 years after he accused her of deserting their home and mistreating him.
Eldoret Chief Magistrate Charles Obukutsa allowed Mr Kibor, 83, to part ways with Josephine Jepkoech Kibor, 68, whom they had seven children together.
The two met and married in 1965 but in 2014 Mr Kibor moved to the court asking for the dissolution saying he could no longer live with her.
On Friday, when making his judgement, Obulutsa said that from evidence produced in court the relationship between the two had gone sour and that it was impossible to be reconciled by a human being.
GENUINE LOVE
“When marriage has been broken down it is impossible to be brought back to its original status,” said Mr Obulutsa.
He said that the wife did not convince the court that there was genuine love between the parties hence it was impossible for the court to force the two parties to continue living together.
He further said that Section 17 of Marriage Act stated that when two parties in marriage are aggrieved they can no longer stay together.
“The court has confirmed that the petitioner is aggrieved due to cruelty of the respondent and when the two parties are aggrieved they can no longer stay together,” said Mr Obulutsa
The magistrate went further to quote Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe in his famous book Things Fall Apart saying “When Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold."
PROPERTY
“This marriage has fallen apart and the court can no longer hold it, I therefore dissolve it as requested by the petitioner,” said Mr Obulutsa.
On the issue of sharing property, the court said that the respondent did not make a formal request about the same, however he gave her an opportunity to lodge a claim on how their property should be divided.
The respondent has also 30 days to appeal.
On his part Mr Kibor said that he will set aside 10 acres of land for his estranged wife and build her a house as a favour because of her old age.
“This woman is too old she has nowhere to go, I will allocate her 10 acres of land and construct her a house where she will be staying until the time when she will die,” said Mr Kibor outside the court.
