Undesirable outcomes in bid to protect family estates
What you need to know:
Only three months ago, a man killed his own brother in the Tana Delta after a property row.
The two apparently could not agree on sharing a string of businesses and houses their father left behind.
The younger brother hit his sibling on the head with a heavy metal bar, killing him instantly.
- The young man was later charged with murder, earning him 20 years behind bars.
Batuli Omar, a mother of one, was sentenced to one year in prison following property wrangle between her and her kinsmen.
She was charged in the Hola Court for assaulting her step father over a property feud which involved her late father's piece of land, a house and livestock.
"After my father died, my kinsmen came for my father's property. They wanted me out, and I did not have anywhere to go being an only child,” she said in an interview with the Nation.
She stood her ground to defend the only place she had called home for more than 15 years, but her step father, tried to scare her away. However, Ms Omar did not leave her home. She stuck around to claim her space, which the elders did not find amusing.
COMMUNITY
"They tried forcing me out to the man who had sired a baby with me, but I could not go," she said.
Three months later, her mother died and things went from bad to worse after Ms Omar's stepfather obtained all documents to the property. Ms Omar was forced out but would not leave without a fight.
A group of youth and some of the community members decided to come to her rescue, stopping efforts to have her evicted.
Her peace, however, did not last long as she was one day ambushed by a group of young men who attacked her and later burnt down her hut. The following day, she was picked by police, who were accompanied by her stepfather. She was charged with assault. All evidence proved she was guilty, but Ms Omar says she was framed. The high court in Garsen reviewed her sentence and enlisted her among the 19 convicts to be freed, restoring her lost joy.
IMPRISONMENT
To this day, she believes that her bid to protect the property left behind by her father upon his death landed her in prison.
"I am only afraid that I may not have my peace having left prison because the same people who led me there may come after me thinking I am out to challenge them," she said.
Ms Omar is just one among many in the Tana River region who are caught in property wrangles that have resulted in the deaths, break up of families and other undesirable consequences, including arrest and imprisonment
Only three months ago, a man killed his own brother in the Tana Delta after a property row. The two apparently could not agree on sharing a string of businesses and houses their father left behind. The younger brother hit his sibling on the head with a heavy metal bar, killing him instantly. The young man was booked in Garsen police station and later charged with murder, earning him 20 years behind bars.
