Political life seems to be taking a tall order on some politicians as they fail to balance their work and family responsibilities as many have divorced.
In some cases, most of them have been divorced or are being divorced on the grounds of infidelity, lack of intimacy, violence, and communication breakdown among others.
Kivumbi.co.ke takes a look at marriages of prominent Kenyans that broke down due to politics.
Ali Hassan Joho
The flamboyant Mombasa recently agreed to divorce his wife Madina Giovanni Fazzini after she filed for divorce, saying her marriage to the seasoned politician had irretrievably broken down and could not be revived either legally or socially.
Joho and his wife had been married for 10 years but strangely they lived separately for 9 years of their marriage.
Alfred Mutua
The first marriage of Governor Mutua to Josephine Mutua ended dramatically in court after 15 years. The divorce proceedings were bitter and acrimonious as accusations of infidelity, cruelty, and desertion were part of the papers filed in court.
Mutua and Josephine were blessed with three children, a boy, and twin girls.
Trouble in Mutua’s love life was not going away as his new lovebird Lillian Ng’ang’a also abandoned claiming they were never married even after acting as Machakos First Lady for more than 5 years.
Aisha Jumwa
The outspoken Malindi lawmaker recently opened saying her marriage started experiencing turbulence the moment she joined politics Jumwa revealed that her divorce emanated from her ex-husband’s belief that he could not have a wife who was a politician.
“I joined politics in 1997 when I vied for a councilor’s seat. My husband gave me an ultimatum to either choose to be his wife or be a politician. I chose politics because I realized I had a bright future ahead,” the MP said during an interview with a leading TV station.
Mithika Linturi
The Meru Senator who is also a close ally of DP Ruto is currently involved in a nasty divorce proceeding involving his ex-wife Maryanne Kitany.
In the divorce proceeding, it came out that Linturi had another wife whom he married in 2000, Mercy Kaimenyi.
Although, the number of children that the senator has remained unknown, during the divorce proceedings it was revealed that he had sired three children with three different women.
Martha Wangari
The Gilgil MP Martha Wangari’s divorce is a typical example of how politics breaks marriage.
After the MP filed for divorce in 2018, the husband objected to claims of being violent saying his wife only changed after being elected to parliament.
Further, he accused the lawmaker of using her status in the government to kick him out of their matrimonial home.
The MP and her ex-husband were blessed with two children.
Ann Waiguru
The Kirinyaga governor who recently married lawyer Kamotho Waiganjo in a colorful traditional wedding was once married to Tony Waiguru Njuguna.
Although the details of their divorce remain scant, Tony and Ann began experiencing trouble between 2003 and 2004 at the time when the government moved out of the matrimonial house.
After their divorce, the outspoken governor was granted custody of their three children.
Martha Karua
Although very little is known about Martha Karua’s love and marriage life, it is reported she was reportedly married to Justice GBM Kariuki until 2008 when they divorced.
In 2015, her supposed ex-husband was arrested and charged with a criminal offense which he was later acquitted and sued the state and awarded damages.
The NARCK-Kenya party leader is blessed with two children, a boy, and a girl.
Johnson Muthama and Agnes Muthama
The UDA chairman, Johnson Muthama was at one point married to the current senator of Machakos County, Agnes Muthama.
The two had a turbulent marriage and politics has been cited as one of the reasons for their rocky relationship.
The two politicians married under customary law in 1975 and divorced in 1983. Muthama and the Kavindu remarried in 1995 and divorced 18 years later when he chased her out of their matrimonial home.
Muthama at one point claimed that he divorced her after he became uncomfortable with her relationship with his former ally-turned-foe, Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
In a rather surprising move, Kavindu contested for the Machakos Senatorial seat on a Wiper ticket in 2021 following the death of Boniface Kabaka Mutinda.
Francis Atwoli
Even though Atwoli is not an elected leader, in 2017 he left Kenyans wondering after he sensationally claimed that he separated from his second wife Roselinda Atwoli, after she expressed interest in joining politics.
“Roselinda was surrendered to William Ruto in 2007 in his Eldoret townhouse. She is no longer on the list of my relatives. Ruto can now add her, free of charge, to his two recently acquired bearded wives to him have three wives from western. Western Kenya is in Azimio,” Atwoi stated while responding to news of his ex-wife endorsing Ruto.
Gladys Boss Shollei
Uasin Gishu Woman Representative was divorced by her husband Sam Shollei following irreconcilable differences in 2020.
The two got married at St Francis Church in Karen on December 10, 1994, but have been separated since 2016.
Gladys and Sam had been married for a whole 26 years and were blessed with three children
