Marianne Kitany testifying in court in her divorce case on August 28, 2019. /CFM.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 28 – Marianne Kitany, a former Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy President, continued her testimony in a divorce case against Meru Senator Mithika Linuri on Wednesday when she presented photographs affirming her earlier statement that she was indeed married to the Meru politician.
Kitany presented photographs and footage taken on August 26, 2016 when the two married in a traditional wedding ceremony months after they met in 2015.
She told the court sitting in Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts that the marriage was to cement their union in which she said she had spent millions of shillings.
Giving her evidence for the third day, Kitany told Chief Magistrate Peter Gisora, that the customary marriage which took place in presence of both her parents and Linturi’s kin was symbolized by her chewing miraa as part of the traditions of the Meru people.
While testifying under the guidance of her lawyer Danstun Omari, she produced both photos and video to demonstrate that indeed marriage took place to the contrary of Linturi’s assertions.
The photos and videos showed relatives of Linturi traveling to Nandi after the ceremony in Meru to join her parents also perform the Nandi tradition custom marriage.
Kitany gave the narrative, to show the court that, they lived as wife and husband and not as a visitor as contained in Linturi’s replying affidavit to the divorce petition.
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi listening as his estranged wife Marianne Kitany gives evidence in court in her divorce case on August 28, 2019./CFM.
Asked by her lawyer Danstan Omari why she filed the divorce cause, Kitany told the court that she had reasons to believe her life was under threat.
She also cited fraud on Linturi’s part.
The court heard that after she had put up a magnificent house in Runda estate in Nairobi and helping in financing heavily to build a modern house in Meru for Linturi and her parents and assisting in campaigning for his 2019 senatorial campaign as shown in photos and videos presented in court.
She also stated that there arose mistrust following the subsequent denial of her conjugal rights.
Kitany said she discovered that Linturi had some other women outside their marriage, that he come home late and at times absented himself from their matrimonial home both in Meru and Runda.
The court heard that whenever Kitany inquired from Linturi about his absence, he could disappear from home for two days, which aspect caused her anxiety and concern.
She testified that Linturi, secretly took tittle deeds and placed them as security to secure bank loans without her knowledge. The said securities belonged to her relatives and directors of companies where Linturi had no shares.
This issue of fraud and threat to her life were subsequently reported to the DCI in 2018, but action has not been taken since then, the court heard.
She cited an incident in 2018 when Linturi stormed their Runda home with police seeking to evict her with the children she had adopted form Lituri’s previous marriages.
Linturi had reported to the police that three were terrorists in their house but when police visited the house they found non they instead apologized to her for being misled by Linturi.
Kitany told the court she spent several days outside their home, before she filed an application in High Court seeking protection and preservation of her properties.
The Trial Magistrate heard that eventually when Justice John Onyiego gave the orders, she granted access to the house while Linturi was restrained from accessing the Runda home.
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