Former journalist Esther Arunga is set to be sentenced tomorrow in an Australian court for lying about her husband’s Quincy Timberlake involvement in the death of their son.
Speaking on phone following the unfolding events, Quincy’s ex-wife, Rose Mueni, said she thought that the allegations made against Quincy were exaggerated.
“I fail to understand how two people would get a child, raise him for three years and then kill him. I am a strong believer and so I commit both of them to God and pray that he grants them justice and gets them out this situation,” she said.
Mueni narrated how she had been in marriage with Quincy before he left their home in Eastlands, Nairobi one day in 2010 for a business trip never to return. A week later, Mueni says that she heard about her husband’s involvement in the scandal with Esther from the media.
“I am the kind of people who are really slow to react, so when I first heard about it I did not confront him and took time to take it all in,” she says.
Emotional trauma
Even after the scandal broke, Quincy would occasionally return home to check on their three children and then leave.
“All along Quincy did not offer an explanation to Mueni as to what was going on. One time he indirectly said that as a man the Kenyan Constitution allowed polygamy and so I got a hint that he was determined to move on,” she says.
Mueni says watching the events about Quincy unfold from the media has brought a lot of emotional trauma to her and the children aged 18, 15 and 13. He has been painted in such a bad light.
“Sometimes I listen to what is said about him and cannot relate it to the man I was married to for ten years,” she says.
The two had lived peacefully in different estates in Nairobi’s Eastlands and South B, with Quincy earning a livelihood as a singer and keyboard player.
Mueni says that Quincy supported his family by singing at events at various music bands. When Quincy moved to Australia with Esther after he was granted asylum, Mueni says he kept in touch with her for a week and then cut links.
“It was hard understanding what had happened. Quincy had not given any indications that he was having an affair while we were married. When the two moved and settled in Australia, I figured that Quincy had closed the chapter between us and so I decided to move on,” she says.
Mueni says despite everything that has been said about her ex-husband she still cares and prays for him. She is even more concerned about her children who have been deeply traumatised by the events.
Luckily, she says, two of her children are in boarding school which has partially protected them from the negative publicity about their father.
Still speaking on phone, jazz musician and a former friend of Quincy, Joseph Hellon, had a different opinion of him.
Became famous
Hellon described him as someone who masqueraded as a rich man and conned people money through false pretence.
According to Hellon, the three were friends and all members of his controversial church, Finger of God.
“Esther, who is a relative — a distant paternal cousin— had been living with me since 2009. What people do not know is that I knew her even before she became famous as a TV anchor. While living in my house, I was mentoring her on etiquette, on how to present herself and building her brand,” he said.
Hellon says that Quincy was a childhood friend with whom he attended the same primary school. They reconnected after seeing him on television as a music director for a popular show in 2009.
Dark powers
“Quincy saw me on TV and contacted me saying that he was pursuing a music career in the US and needed my help. When he came to the country in 2010 we arranged to meet in my house in Runda and that’s how he met Esther,” he says.
Hellon says that Quincy lured Esther into a relationship by portraying himself as a rich person and then blindfolded her through the use of witchcraft.
Hellon said Quincy developed interest in Esther who at the time was engaged to businessman Wilson Malaba, also a congregant at the Finger of God Church.
“Quincy realised that it was not easy to manipulate her. He also realised that Esther loved the big life, luxurious cars, fame and money. So Quincy masqueraded as a rich person who had connections to prominent people abroad, as someone who was ‘richer than Wilson’, promised her a better life and a bigger media job abroad,” he says.
Hellon claims that Quincy was relying on dark powers to rob people and used the same to confuse Esther.
“When Quincy, came to me and expressed his interest to join my church, he confessed to using witchcraft but promised to reform. I was happy to welcome him but later realised that he had lied about quitting,” he says.
Asked if she is aware of the allegations that Quincy was practising witchcraft, Mueni said that the claims were ridiculous and baseless.
“I lived with him for so many years. If he was using witchcraft, at least I would be the first person he would bewitch,” she says.
When the scandal broke out in 2010, the three — Quincy, Hellon and Esther — were charged for being involved in a cult but they were acquitted in 2011 for lack of evidence.
“The prosecution having failed to establish a prima facie case to the standard of the criminal procedure that of proof beyond reasonable doubts, the accused persons are hereby acquitted under section 210 of the CPC…. The accused persons are discharged of charge of being members of unlawful society,” read a section of the ruling delivered on June 20, 2011.
Hellon, who later renamed his church Kingdom Embassy International, says he cut links with Quincy after he moved to Australia but occasionally tried to reach out to Esther to no avail.
Efforts by People Daily to reach out to Esther’s father were unsuccessful as he did not pick calls or respond to messages.
