By Patrick Kibet
Nakuru, Kenya: A Dutch woman, 46, has moved to court seeking divorce from her 24-year-old husband.
Miriam Elisabeth Winkel is asking the High Court in Nakuru to grant her separation from Lepil Lolkile who has been married to her for four years, citing cruelty.
In documents filed in court, Elisabeth narrated ‘untold’ suffering, both physical and mental, she had endured in the hands of her husband after he wedded another Samburu lady in customary marriage.
Winkel, who runs an NGO dubbed Samburu Seed, adopted three children after they got married on July 31, 2008 at Maralal District Commissioner’s office.
She also told the court her husband had forced her out of her matrimonial home after he physically assaulted her in front of their three children and threatened to kill her.
Projects
She further told the court she was residing at a hotel with the three children where she had accumulated more than Sh900,000 which she was unable to settle. Winkel arrived in Kenya in 2007 with intention to carry out various development projects in Samburu.
It is there that she met Lepil who was then a guard at a resort where she was staying in Maralal. The couple later adopted three children, all girls, who are now aged between 13 and 15.
At the centre of the separation dispute are nine pieces of prime plots of land in Maralal town, a farm in Sekelet area of Samburu County, the matrimonial home, two cars and more than 120 cows, 250 goats and 10 camels.
In the suit, Winkel has claimed that all the matrimonial property was bought with her money though she registered it in her husband’s name as it was easier due to the fact that he is a Kenyan citizen.
She asked the court to issue orders stopping him from claiming any of the property or selling it off until the divorce has been granted.
Lepil, however, argues that he solely contributed to the purchase of the property and contested for position of county representative in the just-concluded polls. He argued Winkel deserted their home and accused her of abdicating her duties as a wife.
