Gilgil MP Martha Wangari divorces, evicts husband

A Member of Parliament has divorced her husband over allegations of domestic abuse, infidelity, lack of support and death threats.

Gilgil MP Martha Wangari confirmed to The Nairobian that she had parted ways with Peter Karanja, her husband of five years and who she accuses of being an “emotionally and physically abusive man who beat her up and never provided for their children.”

The mheshimiwa says that the Gilgil Police bosses are aware of the assault she has faced during her marriage. "It is better for people to judge me for having left my husband, than people to bury me because my husband killed me. If I didn't love that man with all my heart, I would not have persevered five years of providing for him and he beats me. He used to track my car, my phone and my emails.”

A source close to Wangari’s husband popularly known by his initials, PK, told The Nairobian that their divorce was out of her infidelity. “He (Karanja) feels that she (Wangari) was cheating on him and that's why he decided to track her car and her phones. He complained that ever since his wife became a politician, she started spending so much time outside the house with other men.”

The source, who PK shared his tribulations with also said the man is stressed because Wangari stopped loving him the moment she rose to parliament and started making money.  “He feels like his wife has now started madharau because she has money and power.”

On her part and in her court case,  Wangari cites an example of a public altercation she had with her husband at a city hotel when “He tracked my phone and followed me as I was meeting some other women leaders. He dragged me out of the meeting, beat me up and then tried to run over me with a Mercedes car.  The irony is that the car is the one I had bought him.”

In her court documents, Wangari reveals with back up money transfer documents how she has been the sole bread winner in her family but all she got was infidelity, insults and beatings from PK.  "I can’t feel bad about providing for my family but the man should also try.  He has sold two of my vehicles without my permission, and I have had to put caveats on all my land holdings because he was trying to sell them.

I have come to learn that he is a man who depends on women for upkeep.  He did that to his former wife, he tried it with my secretary and now that I have left he will reunite with another woman.  I want the whole world to know that I am no longer married to him because he is going around taking money from people claiming I am still his wife.  We haven't even spoken since November.”

But this was not how things were when they met five years ago.

“I loved this man,  and I have given this relationship my all, but the physical violence has gotten to a point I know I will be killed.  And it was better for me to walk out of the relationship than die and leave my children,” explained Wangari, adding she has been providing for her family for the last five years but has been met with numerous disappointment.

“As a wife,  if my partner  has no money,  I take up the responsibility to provide for the family,  but when it reaches a level where the same man is asking me for money so that he can go spending on other women,  I put my foot down,” she offers, further saying that she   went to court to compel him to pay for the children’s upkeep besides evicting him from a house she built.

“I have receipts for every construction material used in the house. I bought everything and built the house.  He kicked me out of the house and has placed pictures of other women in the house. I can't even get my personal effects out of the house," says Wangare.

In her court documents,  Wangare has attached a lawsuit from different woman,  demanding upkeep from PK. "He started dating my secretary behind my back and had a baby with her.  Her child and my child were born four months apart.  If I asked him about such a disrespectful thing as sleeping with and impregnating my secretary he would turn abusive,"says Wangari.

She says her mother at one point had to be hospitalized because PK could call her, drunk,  past midnight and tell her to prepare for Wangari's funeral because he was going to kill her. "My mother could not stand such and her blood pressure rose and she was hospitalized. And he did it so many times we had to block his number on my mother's phone.”

She added: “I asked myself,  what will my constituents think when I leave this man,  but at the end of the day,  it's better to leave the marriage than die. I am now fully focused on serving the people of Gilgil and taking care of my sons.”