A 75-year-old woman has filed for divorce, seeking to terminate her 55-year marriage, claiming that her husband has denied her conjugal rights.
Marcella Mukami (pictured) told a Kangema court that her husband Peter Kinyugo, 76, stays at his second wife’s house for weeks without visiting her, despite living in the same compound, which had compelled her to file for divorce.
During cross examination by defence lawyer Waiganjo Gichuki, Ms Mukami also accused her husband of not loving her.
“You are accusing your husband of failing to provide services to you; do you still need those services now?” Mr Gichuki asked the woman who in response said “a lot”.
However, Ms Mukami was put to task to explain why she did not file the case in 1984 when her husband married the second wife.
“When my husband married my co-wife we lived happily under one roof, we had allocated duties to cook and household chores, but it is because my husband is such a clever man that I did not raise an objection,” she told the court adding that her co-wife would even take her to hospital.
Mr Gichuki also put her to task to explain why she was accusing her husband of adultery yet she was actively involved in the traditional wedding of the second wife.
In response Mukami said: “He (Kinyugo) also forced me to participate in the traditional marriage to his second wife.”
The granny, a retired teacher, further accused her husband of enjoying all the profits from businesses they invested in together with Ms Trizah Mulinge, her co-wife, a statement that was dismissed by the defence, which maintained that Ms Mukami has been receiving her pension and tea bonus.
Ms Mukami’s lawyer Margaret Nyang’ati said her client received a pension of between Sh2,000 and Sh3,000 which cannot support her medical needs.
She stated that Ms Mukami has been bedridden for a long time and that her husband stopped supporting her, apart from paying for her NHIF dues.
The court set February 15 for cross-examination of the respondent.
