Fresh claims have now emerged that attempts are being made to push for a postponement of the judgment sparking unease among family members and the wider community who have awaited the verdict for years.
At the center of the case is a 2.0-hectare parcel of land Kakamega/Gimarakwa/494, located near Jebrok market in Hamisi subcounty.
Ownership of the land has been contested within the family of its original owner, the late Paulo David Zakayo Kivuli Mwenywa, founder of the African Israel Nineveh Church, who died on November 10, 1974.
The dispute first flared publicly in 2010 during a family meeting convened to address inheritance, a session notably snubbed by John G.K.O.
Mweresa Aluse, the current head of the church and defendant in the present case.
As tensions escalated, state authorities including the District Commissioner and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) were drawn in.
Their findings were later forwarded to law enforcement, setting the stage for formal litigation.
By 2019, the conflict had reached the courts. Josphat Busisa Aluse and his late mother, Safina Lungazo Aluse, filed a criminal case (Hamisi Criminal Case No. 311/2019) against John G.K.O. Mweresa Aluse.
The proceedings have since endured years of adjournments and transitions under multiple magistrates.
Dennis Ogal presided between 2019–2020, followed by Melan Ochieng’ from 2020–2024.
Since last year, Magistrate Nicodemus Moseti has taken over and is now expected to deliver the long-awaited ruling.
For nearly 15 years, the Hamisi community has closely followed the saga viewing it as a mirror of Kenya’s broader struggles with land succession and inheritance disputes.
As September 10 approaches, all eyes remain fixed on the Hamisi Law Courts, where the ruling could either bring closure to one family’s decades-old conflict or usher in yet another chapter of uncertainty in the region’s turbulent land history.
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