This archive report was first published on 5 September 2019.
Published on September 5, 2019, a Nairobi court has declared a ban on live transmission of proceedings in a divorce case between Marianne Kitany, a former staffer in the Office of the Deputy President, and Meru Senator Mithika Linturi.
Following a consent by the parties to the suit, Trial Magistrate Peter Gisora gave the directions, allowing reporters to cover the proceedings as 16 witnesses take to the stand in subsequent days to testify in the case.
Kitany, in her re-examination by her lawyer Danstan Omari, alleged that some witnesses from Meru whom she had lined up to testify had expressed fear after being reportedly threatened by Linturi.
She claimed the lawmaker was out to intimidate the witnesses so that they do not give their testimony in court.
Kitany has adduced evidence in court in defense of her claims that she was indeed married to the senator, whom she now wants to divorce over fraud.
According to Kitany, Linturi illegally used her land titles to secure loans from local banks.
She also told the court that she had invested immensely in her marriage to Linturi, including on a new home in the senator's rural home in Meru.
Senator Linturi's lawyers, however, raised objection to Kitany's claims, terming them 'outright lies.'
