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Beautiful Murang’a Woman Rep Sabina Wanjiru Chege is being accused of husband snatching, an allegation that has been rubbished by the man’s close family members.
The fair and comely lawmaker who emerged victorious — for the second term — in the just-concluded General Election, is said to have won the heart of Gathitu Maina, the former Kenya Dairy Board boss.
But Maina’s wife, Wanjiku, now fears that Sabina might take over all the family property.
She married Chege in an all-white wedding on September 7, 1996 at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in South B, Nairobi.
However, a family source clarified that Sabina recently married the former dairy board boss in a traditional ceremony making her an ‘official’ wife.
In what is seen as a step to stake her claim, Sabina paraded Maina as her hubby when both appeared to pick her certificate from the Murang’a Returning Officer after she won the Woman Rep seat.
Sabina, who chaired the National Assembly Education Committee in the last Parliament, even told her supporters that Maina was her husband. The two have one child together, but the first family claims that Maina is spending more time with Sabina - a mother of three - a situation that worries them.
Before joining politics, Sabina, now 39, became a household name as an actress in the popular television drama series, Tausi, in which she played the role of Rehema before becoming a radio presenter with Coro FM.
Interestingly, before Sabina hooked up with Maina, she was linked to her first flame, Kikuyu Benga musician John De’Mathew (John Ndemethiu).
The maestro even serenaded her in his hit single, Njata Yakwa, now a popular mugithi song, in whose video Sabina appears, dancing and holding the musician, as he croons, “You are my star. My happiness is only with you.”
Sabina is said to have met Maina in 2012 in the run up to the 2013 General Election when she was looking for a BMW car to buy.
But a close friend of the first wife told The Nairobian that there is more than meets the eye. “We are still shocked. Sabina initially wanted to buy a car and my husband’s friend offered her a BMW which she agreed to pay for in instalments,” said our source.
The source claims that Sabina could not clear the payments and when auctioneers came to repossess the car, she called a meeting to sort out the matter. “After the meeting, Maina became Sabina’s lead campaigner and a close friend,” said the source.
But Maina’s family is defending Sabina, saying she is neither a husband snatcher nor secret lover. The source clarified that he attended the traditional wedding between Sabina and Maina in 2015.
“Sabina is legally married to him and it was an auspicious occasion. Of course, when you marry a second wife, you don’t expect the first wife to be happy. The first wife can’t also be invited to the traditional wedding of the second wife. Maina wasn’t happy in his marriage and he got a second wife. It is allowed in African culture and there is nothing wrong with that,” said our source.
He further adds that Maina provides for his family, and that his wife is just jealous. “She even started inviting pastors to her house for all-night prayers. No man can be comfortable with such an arrangement. The whole world should know that our son is very happy with Sabina, and our family loves and recognises her as a wife. Sabina’s children and Maina’s children know each other and frequently meet in the village. They are very close.”
Sabina attended Mugoiri Girls before joining University of Nairobi for a bachelor’s degree in education. In 2005, she joined World Space Africa as regional manager and in 2007, she was employed at KBC as programmes controller.
