Meru Senator, Mithika Linturi, was dealt a huge blow on Monday after a divorce case filed by his wife, Maryanne Kitany, was upheld by the courts.
In the ruling, Linturi's petition to have the entire divorce struck out was duly rejected thereby ensuring that he had a case to answer on a date that was to be agreed upon.
In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Peter Gesora dismissed the application and directed that the matter proceeds to a full hearing.
"It is my humble view that for there to be a certification for the certified copy of the marriage certificate, it is either the original copy is missing or a party seeks to have a copy held by the registrar of marriage issued to him," Gesora ruled.
However, Linturi disclosed to the court on Monday that he was married to only one wife (Mercy Kaimenyi) and even produced a marriage certificate to prove his claims.
In this ruling, Chief Magistrate Gesora stated that the signatures on the marriage records were visibly different, thereby giving validity to Kitany's argument that the certificates were doctored.
Less than two months ago, Kitany through her lawyer, Danstan Omari, asked the court to order the police to investigate the legislator for alleged bigamy (marrying someone while already married to someone else) as well as forgery.
Kitany also disclosed that Linturi produced legal divorce documents to the effect that he was not a married man, before their union.
“That the defendant herein, if indeed did not have any capacity to marry, committed the criminal act of bigamy, an offence under Section 171 of the Penal Code of Kenya,” Kitany's legal team stated.
However, Linturi's team, in their rebuttal, maintained that the Senator could not have married Kitany as he was still married to Mercy.
The dramatic divorce proceedings were recently moved from Meru to Nairobi following a court directive.
Apart from the contested the divorce case, the two are also fighting over properties spread out in Meru, Nairobi and Kajiado county.
Late 2018, the high court had to place a restraining order on Mr Linturi from accessing their Runda home and throwing out his estranged wife forcefully.
The court also barred him from disposing of some of the assets they allegedly co-own.
