Court: Mithika Linturi was in a Catholic union, could not marry Kitany

He sympathised with Kitany who he observed hastened her divorce from her previous marriage when she was smitten by the former Meru Senator's advances to be the holder of his heart.

Her acts of love were all but in vain, said Nyaga.

He said: "As I conclude, I must express my sympathy for the plaintiff. From the evidence, she appeared to think that she had found a partner for a 'til death do as part' union. She even hastened her divorce from her previous marriage, in preparation for the next one."

In her case, Kitany narrated that on or about June 1, 2014, she alongside Mithika divorced and started cohabiting with each other at Kileleshwa. She asserted that the former senator went ahead to marry her through the Nandi customary law.

She said the marriage happened two years later on April 16, 2016 and they thereafter lived as husband and wife.

The MP accused Mithika of extreme cruelty and willful emotional, physical and psychological neglect. On this, she particularised that he denied her conjugal rights, engaged adultery, and exhibited ill temper.

She asked the court to find that the marriage could not be salvaged as it was irretrievably broken.

Agriculture CS nominee Mithika Linturi. [Kipsang Joseph,Standard]

On his end, Linturi called three witnesses.

In his response, he referred Kitany as a visitor who had overstayed her welcome. He denied being in Kapsabet for customary marriage.

Mithika told the court that being an elder of Njuri Ncheke, according to Meru culture, he ought to have given a heifer, a goat, a ram, a drum of honey, and a blanket to Kitany's mother. He said he never did that.

Also at the heart of the fight was a vehicle that Kitany said Linturi gave to her mother. The CS nominee told the court that instead, it was her who took the vehicle, registered it in his company's name and gifted it to her mother.

The magistrate ruled that the contest would be settled by determining whether Kitany is lawfully married to Linturi, whether Linturi has proved his alleged lack of capacity to marry, and, whether the prayers sought in the case, should be granted.

Kitany argued that Mursik signified an exchange of vows.

On his end, Linturi said that he never married her as 'ratet' (marriage) which takes place at the groom's home never happened.