Bernice Mbugua @BerniceMuhindi
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi’s estranged wife Maryanne Kitany yesterday revealed their relationship blossomed in 2014 when the then Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru was facing an impeachment motion.
Kitany, then Chief of Staff at the office of the Deputy President William Ruto, told the court that they were tasked as a team to make Linturi withdraw the motion and the only way they could ensure it flopped, was to “organise” Linturi’s technical disappearance from Parliament.
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“At the time the motion was being tabled in Parliament, I was with him in Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge.... at that time things were getting intimate,” Kitany said yesterday while testifying in a divorce suit, which she has filed against Linturi.
Kitany said the decision to take Linturi to Naivasha was a calculated move that was planned by a team from the President and the Deputy President’s office.
Sleepovers
She said after coming back to Nairobi from Naivasha, Linturi started visiting her at Kileleshwa home for sleepovers and even stayed for days and they eventually decided to live together.
According to Kitany, she first met the senator while working at the Deputy President William Ruto’s office in 2013 as the Chief of Staff when he was the MP for Igembe South.
She narrated how Ruto had instructed her to deal with Linturi’s regular complaints, which came in the aftermath of the Jubilee administration taking power in 2013.
The 45-year-old Kitany told the court that they got married under the Nandi customary law, and denied claims by Linturi that she was “just visitor” at his home.
“I wonder why the Senator said I was a visitor when he was the one who first stayed with me before we moved to Runda,” she said.
Kitany told Chief Magistrate Peter Gesora the two decided to formalise their relationship after which Linturi introduced her to his three children from different mothers who later moved in with them.
“I became a mother to the children and loved them like my own,” she told the court.
Linturi, in his suit papers, argues that he was not married to Kitany, saying he was already in a Christian marriage, which was monogamous.
According to Linturi, Kitany’s prayer for divorce cannot be granted, as she was not legally married to him.
“Divorce can only be granted if the marriage is legally valid. It will be a waste of time for this case to proceed to a full trial since the respondent had no capacity to enter into any form of marriage with the petitioner,” said his lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu in court documents.
Linturi said even if Kitany claims they were married under Meru and Nandi customary laws, the marriage would still be invalid as he was bound in a monogamous marriage.
On how she made her money, Kitany narrated how she took a loan of Sh1.2 million while working for Kenya Commercial Bank and bought a house in Komarock.
“I started paying my mortgage but left after two years to pursue my degree. The loan was converted into a commercial property, so I sold the property and made a profit Sh600,000,” she told the court.
