• Kitany says Linturi should be investigated for falsification, forgery and faking court documents.
• The legislator wants the court to strike out Kitany's application on grounds that there was no marriage between them in the first place.
Image: JACK OWUOR
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi’s estranged wife Mary Kitany yesterday opposed a bid by his lawyers to produce his marriage certificate in court as evidence that he only has one wife.
Through her lawyer Danstan Omari, Kitany said she was apprehensive most documents produced in court by the senator were not authentic.
She said Linturi should be cross-examined to ascertain the credibility of the document.
The two appeared before Commercial Court magistrate Tito Gesora for the hearing of a divorce case.
The legislator wants the court to strike out Kitany's application on grounds that there was no marriage between them in the first place.
Linturi, through lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu, argued that the alleged customary marriage that Kitany wants annulled never took place.
"Even if the court believes that there was such a marriage, it would be a void marriage as it does not exist in law", he argued.
He also opposed the bid by Kitany to enjoin the DCI and the Attorney General in the matter, arguing that the case was a private law matter.
In a heated exchange, the parties failed to agree on how the matter should proceed as Linturi wanted to argue the case as it was, but Kitany’s lawyer insisted that the senator’s documents should be verified before they are produced in court.
Omari said from past experience, Linturi has been filing fake documents in court and the said marriage certificate might be forged.
However, in a short ruling, Gesora decided the marriage certificate can be admitted in court and he would deal with its authenticity.
Omari asked the court to grant him leave to file an appeal against the ruling because they could not proceed with documents whose authenticity and credibility are in question.
Gesora ruled that Omari has a right to appeal the ruling but the hearing of the case will proceed on April 24.
The divorce case has turned ugly after Kitany filed a further affidavit sensationally detailing how their relationship started until it ended.
The two met at DP William Ruto’s office in 2013 and started dating in 2014. According to Kitany, they held a customary wedding in 2016 at both homes.
She accused Linturi of bigamy, saying he married her knowing well that he was still married to his first wife which is against the law.
Kitany says Linturi should be investigated for falsification, forgery and faking court documents and stamps.
She wants the DCI to verify the alleged marriage certificate that he produced in court.
“The court does order the Registrar of Marriages to investigate and/or produce the records and pleadings of the defendant’s purported divorce, if any, to Mercy Kaimenyi in divorce case No 128 of 2005 In Nairobi,” court documents read.