• Kitany's mother says she doesn't know Linturi's wealth when asked if she thinks he's rich or poor, lawyer asks court to order yes or no answers.
• The court was, at one point, forced to interject when she referred to the senator as a fraudster and a conman.
There were heated exchanges yesterday during the divorce proceedings of Meru Senator Mithika Linturi and his estranged wife Marianne Kitany as the lawmaker's lawyers cross-examined Kitany's mother.
Rhoda Chepkoech, who had testified on Tuesday, was back in the dock to stand by her testimony as Linturi's lawyers poked holes in it.
At one point, a defiant Chepkoech refused to answer the question of whether she thought Linturi was rich or poor saying she could not tell "since she did not know his accounts".
“Your honour, it’s hard to tell these things and a politician can easily conduct harambees or merry go rounds to get money,” she said.
Her response led the senator's lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu to ask the court to order her to give a yes or no answer saying that in law she was supposed to answer the question and not form her own.
It was his argument that any witness who refuses to answer questions can be charged. The offence carries a three-year jail term.
However, Chepkoech's lawyer Danstan Omari objected, asking the court to protect them from "Muthomi threats". He insisted that she has answered the question saying it was just not satisfactory to Muthomi.
Chief magistrate Peter Gesora ruled that even though the session was heated, it had not reached a point of issuing punishable sanctions.
At one time, lawyer George Wajakoya also asked the court to declare Kitany’s mother a hostile witness saying she was not at liberty to choose which questions to answer.
Chepkoech insisted that Linturi gifted her a car at the traditional wedding in front of all the people who had come for the function.
She did not transfer the ownership of the car because it was a gift and she was just glad to have been given by her son-in-law, she said, adding that even though it’s under Atticon to date, no one had ever brought up an issue.
She also sensationally claimed that she was one of the shareholders in her son in-law’s company, Atticon Ltd, alongside her children.
Chepkoech said she bought shares at Atticon through her company–Noniko Ltd.
She said, however, that all of them were mysteriously removed as shareholders and the matter is before the DCI.
The former teacher now turned pastor also maintained that Linturi stole her title deeds that were in Kitany’s possession.
The court heard that one of the deeds the senator allegedly stole was in the name of Noniko Ltd.
The deeds were for two residential houses in Kileleshwa. Chepkoech said she bought them with money she got from her late husband.
But Muthomi asked how a person who donated Sh1 million and bought her a car was not able to afford rent or build his own house.
On Tuesday, Kitany's mother had told the court that Linturi had taken the deeds and used them as collateral on loans.
Muthomi accused her of lying to the court and put her to the task to explain her allegations.
But Chepkoech said they were at a meeting in Runda last year in August when she found out the titles were missing. "Linturi told her that he would give them back to her."
The court was, at one point, forced to interject when she referred to the senator– who was in court–as a fraudster and a conman.
Edited by R.Wamochie