Infidelity, lack of intimacy, violence, trouble with finances and communication breakdown are often cited as the leading causes for divorce.
However, in some cases, politics and political leanings and differences weigh down marriage and cause it to break down irretrievably.
Over the past few years, many prominent Kenyans have parted ways with their spouses because they opted to join politics, backed a particular candidate, associated with certain parties or spent time away from home due to politics.
Kenyans.co.ke takes a look at marriages of prominent Kenyans that broke down due to politics.
Aisha Jumwa
Malindi Member of Parliament, Aisha Jumwa, has in the past opened up about how politics led to the collapse of her marriage.
In a past interview, the vocal legislator explained that she decided to part ways with her husband because he told her that he could not have a wife who was a politician.
She noted that her marriage started experiencing turbulence the moment she joined politics. At some point, she had to choose between her marriage and politics and she went with the latter.
"I joined politics in 1997 when I vied for a councillor's seat. My husband gave me an ultimatum to either choose to be his wife or be a politician. I chose politics because I realised I had a bright future ahead," the MP stated.
Jumwa, who has announced her intention to vie for the Kilifi Gubernatorial seat, started out as a councillor in Takaungu Ward before being elected as Kilifi Women Representative and later as Malindi MP.
Francis Atwoli
Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) boss Francis Atwoli's marriage with his second wife, Roselinda Simiyu, fell apart in 2016 after she expressed interest in joining politics.
In a TV interview in 2017, the vocal trade unionist noted that he had released her because she chose did not to listen to him and joined the political world.
Roselinda made headlines on January 28 this year after Deputy President William Ruto unveiled her as a member of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party during a rally in Bungoma.
The announcement caught many people surprise since Ruto and Atwoli do not see eye to eye.
"Roselinda was surrendered to William Ruto in 2007 in his Eldoret town house. 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.
The COTU boss has on several occasions stated that the UDA leader would not be Kenya's 5th president and vowed to campaign against him.
Agnes Muthama
UDA Chairman Johnstone Muthama had a turbulent marriage with Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu 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.
The UDA Chairman claimed 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.
Muthama was backing a candidate known as Urabanus Ngele in the by-election but Kavindu won after garnering 104,080 votes against the UDA candidate's 19,705 votes.
Martha Wangari
In 2018, Gilgil MP Martha Wangari filed for divorce from her husband Peter Karanja.
Wangari alleged that her husband was a violent man and stated that she chose to walk out of the relationship than die and leave her children.
She asked the court to bar her estranged husband from their matrimonial home, claiming that she bought the land and developed it herself.
However, in his defence, Karanja claimed that Wangari began to change after she was elected. Further, he accused the lawmaker of using her status in the government to kick him out of their matrimonial home.
Wangari Maathai
In the late 1970s, the late Andrew Mwangi Mathai, the husband of the late Wangari Maathai, filed for divorce and accused his wife of having an extramarital affair with the then Nyeri Town MP Waruru Kanja.
However, it later emerged that the two parted ways because of the politics surrounding the disappearance and murder of the late Josiah Mwangi Kariuki.
In a past interview, Wangari explained that her husband had accused Kanja of having an affair with his wife because they were split over JM's death.
While Kanja and Wangari supported the findings of a committee that had been set up to investigate the death, Mathai didn't.
However, Kanja denied having an affair with the future Nobel Laureate. He explained that Mathai framed him to satisfy his ego.
