The nairobian Story by Hudson Gumbihi
Machakos Governor Dr Alfred Mutua and estranged wife Josephine Thitu Maundu are embroiled in a bitter and ugly tussle over children and matrimonial property, The Nairobian can exclusively reveal. So acrimonious is the split that Josephine, a pharmacist, claims they no longer live together and that she flew to Australia with their three children on November 6 to take a break from “stress and a failed marriage.” The fight over ownership of the Westlands house and custody of the children appears to be the last straw for her. Josephine has in fact threatened to sue Mutua if he does not hand over all keys and property to her lawyer and vacate his staff from the Westlands home, which she claims he surrendered to her in a sworn affidavit witnessed by her advocate, Carol Wanjehia.
The allegations, which Mutua has dismissed as lies, are likely to widen cracks in the youthful governor’s carefully managed image since he introduced the beautiful Lillian Nganga as “The First Lady of Machakos.” In a long email on her predicament seen by The Nairobian, Josephine says that when she flew out of the country, she appointed her younger brother, Moses Mutua Maundu, as the caretaker of their Grevillea Park apartment, with instructions to renovate and rent it out. Subsequently, on November 7, Maundu hired Cube Movers to relocate household goods to Josephine’s farmhouse in Machakos to pave way for refurbishment. But soon after the movers arrived, she says, Mutua drove in with two Administration Police (AP) officers and stopped the works. The governor further ordered two house helps not to allow anybody in, before padlocking the gate and leaving the APs on guard.
When Josephine was informed, she called a private security firm for assistance but they were repulsed by the policemen. The following day, however, Mutua told Spring Valley police that his wife and her relatives had abducted his children. But Josephine maintains that the governor was not only fully aware of the Australian trip, but was the one who paid for the tickets. Mutua appears to have changed his mind later when a telephone conversation with his estranged wife degenerated into a shouting match. Consequently, he threatened to seek a court injunction preventing or delaying Josephine and the children from leaving the country. “His main complaint was that I continued to insist that I accompany him and the children on planned weekend or full day outings. He does not want me to accompany him, saying that he does not need a chaperone to be with his children,” she said in the email. She cites several incidents when the governor allegedly intimidated and humiliated her in public to demand more time with the children.
One such incident happened late last year when he evicted her from the seat she had been allocated at a public function and ordered security to move her to the back of the dais to prevent her “from making a scene.” Her brother, Maundu confirmed to The Nairobian that he was among close relatives who were summoned by police to shed light on the kidnapping allegations.
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