Meru Senator Mithika Linturi’s father’s eulogy snubbed former DP William Ruto’s chief of staff, Marianne Kitany, who is in court claiming she is legally married to Senator Linturi.
In Mzee Peter Linturi’s eulogy, Mercy Kaimenyi was listed as his daughter-in-law during the burial that was conducted at his rural home in Igembe South, Meru County in a ceremony that was attended by DP Ruto.
Kitany says she tied the knot with Mithika in a traditional ceremony in April, 2016.
Mithika Linturi, on the other hand, denies that he exchanged wedding vows with Kitany. According to the senator, the mother-of-three only sneaked her way into his life and home as a “visitor”.
In a letter dated January 10, 2019, filed at the High Court Family Division in Nairobi, Linturi said he never divorced his first wife, Mercy Kaimenyi, whom he married in April 2005 at Tigania Catholic Parish in Meru.
Appearing in court early September, Kitany, however, denied being aware of the existence of an active marriage between Mercy and Mithika.
She said she saw the marriage certificate between Linturi and Mercy for the first time in January 2018.
On Monday, September 16, Kitany, through her lawyer, Danstan Omari, said she would attend her “father-in-law’s burial according to the African tradition”.
“The burial of my client’s father in law is tomorrow [Tuesday, September 17] and I do confirm that my client will attend the funeral. We have done all arrangements to attend and give the Late Linturi the respect he deserves as a father-in-law,” Omari told journalists outside the Milimani Law Courts on Monday.
Omari added that he will accompany Kitany to Meru, alongside her relatives from Nandi and Kericho.
“It is the honour and respect of a deceased father-in-law. She has a moral, cultural, legal and philosophical basis to attend the funeral,” said Omari.
However, on Tuesday, neither Kitany nor Omari was spotted at the burial ceremony. It remains unclear why the duo did not attend the function despite Omari’s earlier statement.
