A Nakuru court has ordered a woman to produce the death certificate of one of her two Fresian cows in a dispute between her and another woman.
On 28 August, 2020 a DNA test was conducted on Ruma and Lelgina after Gloria Kandie and Ann Cherotich asserted ownership.
Ruma was eight years old and Lelgina was nine years old. Kandie, the person in charge of the two cows, told Senior Resident Magistrate Emmanuel Soita on Friday that Lelgina had passed away.
But Soita noticed that the DNA story about the cows was popular in both mainstream media and social media, and that their ownership had turned into a matter of public concern.
He decided that in order for the court to continue with the lawsuit, it was necessary to show that Lelgina passed away. He asked Kandie whether she had informed the police of the cow’s passing because he knew it was a delicate situation, but she said that she hadn’t. Kandie was given three weeks to present the cow’s death certificate as proof after Soita demanded it.
He postponed the court hearing until the certificate was submitted. Those scheduled to testify included Kandie, Cherotich, a herder, Peter Ngugi, the Rongai Sub-County Veterinary Officer, and the OCS.
Kandie reopened the case that Senior Principal Magistrate Charles Ndegwa had previously rejected. After being told to give up the cow on 22 September, 2020 at the Baraka Police Patrol Base in Ngata, Rongai Sub County in Nakuru, Kandie sued Cherotich in 2020. This came about when Cherotich’s ownership of the cows was determined by a DNA test.
To estimate their age using DNA, the dentition, tail switch, and general body markers were examined. Police took down the women’s description of how the cows were dehorned, their observations of the skin patterns and teeth, and compared them to the veterinary report in an effort to determine ownership but were unsuccessful.
In the findings, Ngugi claimed that Cherotich’s account of the cows matched the outcomes of the DNA test. But in her case, Kandie claimed she paid Sh215,000 from two people for the cows, which she named Ruma and Lelgina. She dismissed the results of the DNA test. On 31 July, the case will be brought up.
