Summary
– Elite athletes, including Eliud Kipchoge, embroiled in land ownership dispute.
– Land purchased from runner Daniel Komen, now subject to court battle.
– Komen’s wife, Joyce Kimosop, accuses him of selling land illegally.
– Komen admits to selling land to Kipchoge and others.
World Marathon Star athlete Eliud Kipchoge is among three elite athletes caught up in a court battle over ownership of prime land in Eldoret valued at more than KSh100 million.
Kipchoge is among athletes and businessmen who bought the land from runner Daniel Komen but the property is now at the center of the High Court case in Eldoret.
Komen has been sued by his wife Joyce Kimosop.
She accuses her husband of selling off the matrimonial land without consulting her.
Joyce has sued Komen along with Kipchoge and Birmin Kipruto.
In her case filed through lawyer Patrick Kibii, she has also dragged into court businessmen Felix Kipchoge Lagat and Peter Kipsigei Lagat.
At the center of the legal battle before Justice Reuben Nyakundi of Eldoret High Court is a prime agricultural land measuring 200 acres registered as Southern East of Eldoret Municipality in Uasin Gishu County L.R No. 8638/26.
She is battling to have the disputed property back arguing the sale process of their matrimonial property was illegal
Shocking Details
Joyce says that she was shocked to learn that the 1st to 4th defendants namely, Eliud Kipchoge, Brimin Kipruto, Felex Kipchoge Lagat and Peter Kipsigei Lagat were occupying the land claiming that they had bought it.
“I have also learned with shock that the property was sold at just Sh10 million which represents just 10 per cent of the actual value of the land,” she says in court papers.
She has accused her husband of selling the matrimonial property to the four defendants without involving her despite having equal shares in the disputed parcel of land.
She says the sale was done illegally and wants it cancelled
She insists that as a co-owner of the asset, she was not involved in the sale.
In response, Komen admits that they took a joint loan with his wife to pay the balance for the purchase of the land from its previous owner.
He also admits that he sold the land to the four defendants in the case among them Eliud Kipchoge and that Joyce consented to the sale.
Komen further says he sold to former World marathon record holder Brimin Kirputo jointly 120 acres and not 150 acres as alleged by his wife.
He sold another 50 acres to the 3rd defendant and 20 acres to the 4th defendant.
“I took several bank loans to fund the purchase and development of the property which was the only family home as I married Komen at a time when he had no place to call a home,” Joyce argues.
“My husband has never mentioned to me the sale and hence I was surprised when it was occupied by strangers.”
She says they acquitted the land jointly but agreed that it be registered in the name of her husband in trust for the family.
Joyce added that she got married to her husband on November 5, 1998, through a church wedding in Eldoret and has been blessed with three children.
She has listed five constitutional issues that she wants the Judge to determine key among them whether, as a wife of Daniel Komen, she has a right or not to be involved in a transaction involving a family property.
She also wants the court to determine whether the purported transaction conducted on February 8, 2012, between her husband and other defendants was a clear violation of her constitutional rights.
The court is also expected to determine whether the purported transaction is a nullity for violating clear provisions of the law.
Joyce is also urging the court to determine whether as a spouse, she is entitled to an equal share of the property in question and in addition, whether she is entitled to costs and any other reliefs.
Komen filed his response seeking to have issues raised by his wife to be sorted out of court.
Komen says he is the sole registered owner of the land in dispute.
He, however, admits that Joyce is his wife and they have children.
In reply, Kipchoge and the other buyers said that in September and October 2011, they were informed by Daniel Komen that he had a parcel of land to sell off.
“Komen entered into a sale agreement with us on October 4, 2011, where we bought the property at a sum of Sh10 million. We did due diligence after confirming that the land in question was indeed registered under his name,” stated Kipchoge.
Kipchoge explained that they paid the money through the firm of Kimaru Kiplagat and Company who were acting for him and Brimin Kipruto.
He stated that while they were in the process of finalizing the first sale agreement, Komen offered to sell them an additional 80 acres of land at Sh25.6 million.
“I am also aware that Komen also entered into a sale agreement with the 3rd and 4th defendants for a portion of the prime agricultural land,” said Kipchoge.
He pointed out that since the four of them knew each other, they requested Komen to effect a transfer of the land they had purchased from him into their names to avoid a multiplicity of transaction.
“Komen agreed to our request for a joint transfer after which we jointly applied for consent from the Land Control Board which was granted,” he stated.
Kipchoge said they have deployed five guards and workers to secure the property in dispute noting that they even planted various crops on the same.
“I am only a purchaser for the land and I did not know of any perceived dispute between Komen and his wife Joyce,” he said.
Justice Nyakundi has set May 20, for the hearing of the matter.
Kipchoge Woes Deepens
Last Week, On Tuesday, Eliud Kipchoge revealed in an interview with BBC Sport Africa that he suffered harassment in the weeks following Kiptum’s death on February 11, which caused him a lot of damage and affected his performance in the Tokyo Marathon in March.
Kiptum, when he reached the finish line in Chicago, where he achieved the best record of all time.
Kipchoge explained that after Kiptum’s sudden death, social media users began accusing him of being intentionally involved in the incident: “Learning about his death was the worst news of my life. They told me they were going to burn down my training place, my investments in the city, my house, my family,” he said, broken with anguish.
The double Olympic champion broke down emotionally during an interview with the African BBC, in which he recounted how he was the victim of a campaign that speculated that it was related to the death of his compatriot and rival: “What happened has made me not trust anyone, not even my own shadow. I was surprised that people on social media said so many things about me,” said Kipchoge, 39.
Kipchoge recalled the precautions he took when he saw how the social media was filled with insults and threats: “I have no power to go to the police and tell them that my life is in danger. So my concern was to tell my family to be especially cautious. I started calling a lot of people.” Recalling the call to his mother, the two-time Olympic champion collapsed: “She told me to take care of myself. I come from a very rural area. And at my mother’s age, I really realized that social media can reach anywhere. But she encouraged me. It was a difficult month.”
The second fastest man to run a marathon (2h01m09s, Berlin, 2022) explained that he maintained his training routines, but confessed that he lost many friends. Less than three months before Paris 2024, sadness over Kiptum’s death is mixed with the pain of knowing that fans will miss the confrontation between them in the French capital.
Eliud Kipchoge Profile
Eliud Kipchoge EGH (born 5 November 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized in the 5000 metres.
Regarded as one of the greatest marathon runners of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 Olympic marathon champion, and was the world record holder in the marathon from 2018 to 2023, with a time of 2:01:09 set at the 2022 Berlin Marathon, until that record was broken by Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:00:35. He has run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history.
Kipchoge claimed his first individual world championship title in 2003 by winning the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships and setting a world junior record for the 5000m.
At the age of eighteen, he became the senior 5000 m world champion at the 2003 World Championships with a championship record, then followed by an Olympic bronze for Kenya in 2004 and a bronze at the 2006 World Indoor Championships.
A five-time World Championship 5000 m finalist, Kipchoge took silver medals at the 2007 World Championships, 2008 Beijing Olympics, and 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Personal Bests
| Distance | Time | Date | Location | Venue | Notes | |||||
| 1500 m | 3:33.20 | 31 May 2004 | Hengelo, Netherlands | FBK Games | ||||||
| Mile run | 3:50.40 | 30 July 2004 | London, United Kingdom | London Grand Prix | ||||||
| 3000 m | 7:27.66 | 6 May 2011 | Doha, Qatar | Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix | ||||||
| Two miles | 8:07.68 | 4 June 2005 | Eugene, United States | Prefontaine Classic | ||||||
| 5000 m | 12:46.53 | 2 July 2004 | Rome, Italy | Golden Gala | ||||||
| 10,000 m | 26:49.02 | 26 May 2007 | Hengelo, Netherlands | FBK Games | ||||||
| 10 km (road race) | 28:11 | 27 September 2009 | Utrecht, Netherlands | Singelloop Utrecht | ||||||
| 10 km (road race) | 26:54 | 31 December 2006 | Madrid, Spain | San Silvestre Vallecana | (not legal | |||||
| Half marathon | 59:25 | 1 September 2012 | Lille, France | Lille Half Marathon | ||||||
| 30 km | 1:27:13 | 24 April 2016 | London, United Kingdom | London Marathon | World best | |||||
| Marathon | 2:01:09 | 25 September 2022 | Berlin, Germany | Berlin Marathon | – | 1:59:40 | 12 October 2019 | Vienna, Austria | Ineos 1:59 Challenge | (not legal |
