Estranged woman wants divorce case restarted

By VINCENT MABATUK

A woman in Nakuru has moved to High Court requesting a divorce case she had terminated reinstated.

She accused her husband and his lawyer of using fraudulent means to make her sign a notice to withdraw the suit.

In an application filed in court, the woman said she was given a stack of papers already prepared for her to sign by lawyer Karanja Mbugua representing her husband.

She claimed she was informed by the lawyer that he was going to handle the remaining part in court only to be bundled out of a house and a business she was operating and warned not to set foot in Nakuru three months after the agreement.

Margaret Wachu Ndungu filed for divorce two years ago. She obtained interim orders for maintenance against her husband Ndung’u Mureithi.

Make peace

The court ordered Mureithi to pay her Sh150,000 monthly as maintenance fee.

However, Ms Ndung’u said while the case was on, "her husband sent emissaries saying he was seriously ill and feared for his life and wants to make peace".

"He said in the unfortunate event of him departing, I be on his side since we had journeyed together in a marriage spanning 34 years," she said.

The two eventually met at a Nakuru hotel. After the meeting, he took her to their family house in Nakuru.

She said the man advised her she should quickly travel to Nairobi to fetch her belongings.

On her return, the old man reopened a spare part shop that was closed since 2010. He then convinced her to withdraw the case.

customary marriage

In her application certified as extremely urgent, she said she got married in 1976 in accordance with Kikuyu customary marriage practice and lived as husband and wife in various parts of Nakuru town.

She said the 79-year-old man married another wife in 2010, starting the battle.

"At my age, 56, it is traumatising not to have a fixed place after having my own home for more than 34 years taken away," reads her suit papers.

The case is set for mention next month.