A wedding held in Mbooni, Machakos county on Saturday turned dramatic as a troop of police officers brandishing a court order stormed the church premises and ordered everyone gathered to vacate the premises.
The ceremony set to join Benjamin Malonza and Faith Nthoki Mutua in holy matrimony took the bizarre turn after the bride's ex-husband obtained court orders barring her from getting hitched.
The court order revealed a man who claimed to be the husband to the bride had sought reprieve at the Makindu Law Courts on April 25, 2019, to stop the wedding, and the court obliged.
Ms Nthoki's former husband who is a military officer, Jackson Muthoka, allegedly laid claim to the bride who he reportedly married under customary law as his second wife.
Reports by the Standard revealed that the two ex-lovers shared a daughter, with Mr Muthoka going on to reveal that he had paid her bride price in full as well as sponsored her training as a nurse at the Kenya Medical Training College.
On his part, Mr Malonza cut a forlorn figure after the police charged into the church and brought an end to what was supposed to be the happiest day of his life.
" This is pure malice. Why would he serve us with the court papers on the wedding day? We had already done everything including bookings and guest invitations, not to mention the Ksh2 million we have already spent on the ceremony," Malonza lamented.
The dejected groom went on to disclose that the timing of the whole incident did not make sense to him as they had announced their intended nuptials all across the village and several sub-counties well in advance and received no opposition.
However, his pleas proved to be an exercise in futility as Reverend Samuel Mwania was forced to call the wedding off after all the guests were ordered to vacate the premises by the contingent of officers.
"We have called off the wedding to avoid problems as we wait for the truth to come out," the gloomy groom remarked.
The case is scheduled to be heard on May 3, 2019, with the various parties are expected to appear in court.
