Court orders halting of criminal probe in Kisia estate dispute
The High Court in Mombasa has ordered the police to cease criminal investigations against eight members of a family over a complaint about a house that is part of a multimillion-shilling estate they inherited.
Justice Anne Ong’injo also restrained the Inspector-General of Police and the Director of Criminal Investigations from investigating, arresting or charging the family members pending directions to be issued by the court on September 22.
The orders were issued following an application by Dr Samuel Kisia, Dr Christine Kisia, Dr Muinde Kisia, Dr Philip Kisia, Dr Nduku Kisia, Yumbya Kisia, Mwikali Kisia and Dr James Kisia, who filed a petition against the IG, the DCI and their relative, Ms Rose Kisia.
The petitioners say they and Ms Rose Kisia are beneficiaries of the estate of the late father James Titus Kisia and are all mentioned and acknowledged in his November 23 2018 will.
They say the will outlines their father’s wishes on how his assets should be divided among his children.
They argue that the police have been wrongly co-opted into a probate and administration succession process that is a civil matter.
They say the police have no authority to interfere with their rights and object to Ms Rose Kisia’s quest to arrest Dr Samuel Kisia.
“In the course of bringing in together the whole estate and giving an account of it, the petitioners were served with a court order from the Business Premises Tribunal,” the petition states.
They claim that Ms Rose Kisia went to one of the houses belonging to the estate with police officers, broke into it and carted away unspecified chattels belonging to the estate.
This, they argue, violates Section 45 of the Succession Act.
They claim that Ms Rose Kisia made alarming allegations against them, and especially Dr Samuel Kisia, at the Makupa Police Station.
“The third respondent (Ms Rose Kisia) is determined to obliterate the estate by using the IG and DCI in intermeddling with the estate and now has vowed to have the petitioners arrested starting with Dr Samuel through the trumped up complaints,” the petition states.
They say Dr Samuel is a reputable medical doctor and his reputation will be irreparably tainted.
“It is clear that Dr Samuel is being used as a pawn in the bigger scheme where Ms Rose Kisia is using the criminal process to interfere with the property of the estate which will be in contravention to Section 45 of the Succession Act,” they argue.
They want the court to declare that their fundamental rights to protection of their property in the estate of James Titus Kisia and their right to fair administrative action and a fair hearing were breached.
They also want a declaration that the police went beyond their powers, duties and obligations under the Constitution.
They want the court to prohibit the respondents from interfering with the estate of James Titus Kisia.
They also want the judge to prohibit the police from investigating claims by Ms Rose Kisia that Dr Samuel Kisia was a nuisance and had stolen estate property. BY DAILY NATION



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