Former chief of staff in the Office of the Deputy President Marianne Kitany on Wednesday returned to court to re-examined in her ongoing divorce case with Meru Senator Mithika Linturi.
The case had been adjourned on Tuesday after Kitany’s absence in court following the death of Linturi’s father.
Through her lawyer Danstan Omari, Kitany said she was not ready to proceed with the case as she was in mourning and wants to travel to her home in Meru to be part of her ‘father-in-law’s’ burial programme.
On Wednesday, Kitany returned to the dock and during her re-examination by Omari, dismissed the marriage between Linturi and ‘first wife’ Mercy Kaimenyi.
She said she saw the marriage certificate between Linturi and Mercy for the first time in December/January 2018.
“It’s a document of a certain marriage celebrated on April 8, 2000. I didn’t know Linturi at that time. I did not attend that function,” Kitany testified.
“On April 8, 2000, I had just finished my degree and I was also working at Glaxo Smith Kline.”
When asked whether she could confirm whether Linturi and Mercy were married at that time based on the certificate, she said she couldn’t confirm the same.
Kitany said only the Registrar of Marriages can confirm whether the document was a valid marriage certificate.
She told the court that a document generated by Tigania Catholic Church is not proof of marriage between the two.
“The documents by Linturi don’t proof a marriage between him and Mercy. I had not seen these documents before I married Linturi or during the time of our marriage,” Kitany said.
The document in question had a stamp from Tigania Church.
Kitany said in her case, she presented material to prove that she was married to Linturi.
“I provided affidavits and photos and during the cross-examination. Nobody challenged the photos I presented,” she said.
Kitany made reference to a 2005 divorce case where Linturi sued one Mercy.
She said there were allegations that the said documents were a forgery.
Kitany told the court that the DCI after forensic investigations confirmed that Linturi’s signature in the divorce suit papers was genuine.
“During the cross-examination, I was shown a video between Mercy and Linturi. I saw that video for the first time in this court. That video is not conclusive evidence that there was a marriage. I could only identify Linturi in that video,” she said.
“From the video footage that I was shown I did not see signatures of marriage being written. I also did not see a marriage certificate from that video footage. I have never met Mercy Kaimenyi. Nor has she been listed as a witness in this case.”
During the cross-examination, Kitany was asked whether she had any evidence of a divorce between Linturi and Mercy.
She confirmed that the evidence she had was the divorce suit Linturi filed suing Mercy.
Kitany said the Registrar of Judiciary and Registrar of Marriages can also confirm there was a divorce.
Kitany further made reference to a witness statement of one Jason Muchemi.
Muchemi, as per his documents, is an ordained priest of a catholic church.
However, Kitany said him being a catholic priest isn’t insurance of him telling the truth.
The priest in his documents indicated that the wedding between Mercy and Linturi was conducted at the Tigania Parish.
But Kitany said she was not present and could not confirm the same.
courtesy the star)
Leave a Reply