"Kendi used and dumped me," ex lover Russell Booth reveals

On phone, Russell Booth speaks with a heavy voice when asked about the events that started in November, 2012. The IT guru with charities in the UK and here is ready to jump onto the next plane to Kenya if he were asked to. "I am disgusted, furious and appalled with how the relationship ended and what Kendi, whom I loved with all my heart and wealth is currently putting me through," says Booth, who received a text from Kendi in February 22, saying the relationship was over. "Can't make it in any relationship right now am not ready", was the terse message that marked the beginning of the end to this two-year odyssey. What follows is a trail of accusations and counter-accusations over a couple of days. "I got you off a sofa in Eastleigh and treated you like my princess, and this is how you repay me?" writes an enraged Russell at some point. The truth is, the trail of WhatsApp messages in our possession show a relationship on free fall after he left the country on January 16; on February 8 he sends a message celebrating two years of their relationship's anniversary, she replies on February 13. The two met through a friend moved by the story of Kendi's background and decided to help her. "She told me how she was living with Clemmo's (Calif Records producer) mother and as much as she was fed and well taken care off, she felt like a maid," says the mutual friend who runs a charity in the UK and Kenya, noting that her story involved being raped at an early age and struggling almost all her young life. "She either had a terrible upbringing, or has a sweet tongue," adds the mutual friend who introduced Kendi to Booth who was in the country for the 2011 December holiday. Three days and they had clicked. A few weeks later Booth heard how Kendi, an aspiring artiste, felt she was being 'mishandled' by Calif. Russell did not like that. "I came back to Kenya and moved her to a good house in South B. I paid and bought everything in that house and it was all bliss," recalls Booth, who is still nursing an operation on his hand after punching a wall in one of his red-mist moments. Kendi went ahead to introduce Russell to her parents and the Englishman was on his way to getting a Kenyan wife. "Few people would take their lovers to meet the parents in such a short time but I did," agrees Kendi, who dated Russell knowing he was a divorcee. According to Russell, things changed in November 2012. Kendi informed him that a doctor had diagnosed her with a bleeding condition that was proving to be expensive. "I kept sending her money to visit a gynaecologist. She would also come up with other incidents-like she once called in distress after losing a bag in a washroom in one of the clubs in town. I had sent her a few hundred pounds a few hours before," says Russell. The 'condition' meant the two could not have sex because of heavy bleeding. "Every time I asked her to tell me what the condition was, she could not even come up with a name. My efforts to get payment vouchers from the hospital bore no fruits. I was stupid," Russell ruefully adds. Kendi laughs all these allegations, saying there is no such story. "I am well and healthy. In fact I plan to get into a relationship and have kids, as I am getting old. In any case, it was Russell who has a vasectomy and he only told me about it in late December," says Kendi. Kendi got mad at some point and accused Pulse of prodding too much. "If this story runs, I will come after you personally. You will pay for it," Kendi threatened. Another disputed incident happened when Trevor, Russell's friend, made a surprise visit at Kendi's house only to find a 'dreadlocked' guy coming from Kendi's bedroom. When he asked, she casually told him that she sometimes gives her house out to friends. Trevor informed Russell, who played down the incident but did not forget it. "I picked Trevor from the airport and if I was really cheating, wouldn't I have told the friend to leave the house first?" counters Kendi. "One day, she called me telling me that there is a story that will come out about her and a Tanzanian producer. She asked me not to worry as her manager Refigah and other celebrities had asked her to play along to it," says Russell, who confesses to being an avid follower of the Kenyan showbiz scene. The story quoted Kendi playing down the involvement of a certain white man whom she referred to as a 'friend' while confessing her love for the producer. "The story was a fabrication since I took the alleged photos in front of everyone at the studio," Kendi explains. Yet, the centre managed to hold until November 14 last year when Russell came for a nine-week holiday, from which he observed Kendi being cold from the moment she received him from the airport. "Even in all the rumours and suspicions, she has never been cold to me. But when I came, she was cold, locked herself in her room all the time and ensured there was no intimacy," recalls Russell, who is in his early 40s. She would sleep out all the time, saying she was hosting a karaoke, going for a party or being a judge in an on-going TV show. "When we first met, she took me to all the places she went but last year was different. She would leave me at home. I thought long about it and realised she was sleeping at the Tanzanian's house," says Russell. Things came to a head and on January 10 Russell penned a 1521-word letter, a copy of which we have in our possession, expressing how he felt about the holiday. "Since the second I arrived you've been cold to me, I feel like an interruption to your happy routine – and guess what, you actually told me on Thursday that you change your routine when I'm here, thanks so much for changing for the guy who's loved and supported you since February 2012, yes that is sarcastic," reads the letter which paints Kendi as selfish, unloving and ungrateful. Kendi comes out strongly, saying Russell was controlling, insecure and out to mess her life. "I was keeping in my room because we had reached a point where I was scared of him. He was in a cult and they were trying to recruit me. The fact that I refused led to all this strife," she says. The letter touched on many things including an abortion that Kendi had procured early January. Kendi had apparently been raped by some unknown assailants when she had attended a bash at a friend's place. "According to her, the drink had been spiked and she had been gang-raped," he says. Russell hurriedly took her to a hospital in Eastleigh where she was found four week's pregnant and had the pregnancy terminated. "When I came into the post op room and saw you lying there unconscious, and later when you asked for me, you for once seemed vulnerable and actually needed me there. But since we got home, it was like nothing happened. It took you until 10pm that night to say thank you, and since then, nothing. You even asked about your Christmas present for f**k's sake." the letter reads. "I was with her all the time and held her hand throughout the process and paid Sh20, 000 for everything as usual. It was really bad," adds Russell, who now says he is sure the pregnancy was the Tanzanian's. "If I was raped and discovered I was pregnant, do you think I would let it stay that long? I was never raped nor did I get pregnant," Kendi responds. However the biggest bone of contention seems to be two cars that Russell, who had plans to relocate to Kenya, bought within weeks for Kendi to start a taxi business. Throughout their communication, there seems to be a series of misfortunes bedevilling the business, stacked up against daily expenses for the two. "Everything has fallen apart since I came to Kenya in November and I can't see any way of improving it now. I have no money left, no job, and a relationship which might or might not work with a girl who I love deeply. I'm broken," laments Russell. Exchanges between the two, which Pulse has seen, show Kendi explaining to the Englishman that the business is not doing well and there is nothing to bank. Kendi clarifies that the business could not work, as she was not savvy with running taxis. It later emerged that the vehicles have been mishandled with one having been given to the producer for personal use. "The vehicles are the main point of Russell's depression. He acquired the money from his parents and when the two broke up, he asked her to sell them so that he can pay back the loan. She has taken him in rounds especially since the vehicles are in her name," says the friend. A scanned copy of a search done by a law firm in the matter, in our possession, confirms that one of the cars, a Nissan (the other one is a Toyota Allion) is indeed in Kendi's name. One of those cars was featured in our Celeb Ride segment and is referred to by Russell in his letter: "It's all about you, and while you repeatedly make comments about not being fake or telling lies, you're perfectly happy to throw a pile of bulls**t into Pulse magazine posing with "your" Toyota." Kendi admits that the vehicles were bought so that the two of them could do business. "The cars are in my name. I have the logbooks and all the receipts. If he wants his cars, he should give me the two years I've lost with him," insists Kendi, Jaguar is said to have assured her that Russell will do nothing about it and in fact his name is constantly mentioned in their correspondence. Interestingly, Jaguar bought Kendi a very expensive phone, which got Russell mad as he was in the process of buying Kendi one too. "Jaguar has always been my friend. He was not supposed to get mad as he also bought his ex-girlfriend Mercy (who's Kenyan) an iPhone," counters Kendi, further adding that Mercy was a constant thorn in their relationship. "I have spent over five million in rent, her career, audio and video recording, clothing and nearly everything she has required for the two years. It is very depressing but all I want is money for my two cars. The rest she can keep," says Russell. "I have come to conclude that the affairs started in the latter part of 2012 and it was not just with the producer. She has been sleeping around and I plan to go for an HIV test," he alleges. As for Kendi, she labels Russell a disillusioned Englishman, beaten in his own game by a local girl. "I would now be married with kids if I had not lost the two years with him. I regret the episode," she concludes.