Apostle Kenneth Kiarie of God’s Covenant Holiness Church in Mihang’o, Kayole in Nairobi, has ended his marriage of about three months to his 23-year-old pregnant wife, accusing her of having brought bad luck to his church as the tithe and other contributions are no longer flowing like before. The couple wedded in April this year.
The 30-year-old pastor said that he hurriedly married Marion Wagitu “because being a pastor, I needed a wife officially married in church.” adding that he borrowed money to finance their wedding which has now left him in debt.
The two were said to have fallen in love when Marion, whom he saw as a ‘humble rural girl’ attended his church.
Marion said that the marriage has been a bumpy one, with Kiarie allegedly blaming her for the declining congregation numbers and tithe amounts in his church, because of her odd behaviours in and out of the church.
“He blames me over a Sh70,000 debt he incurred to fund the wedding. He claimed I threw hot tea and stove at him and attempted to beat him in front of his parents,” said Marion, adding that the man of God often left her with Sh5 for cooking oil on grounds that she was a villager.
The pastor is being accused however of of throwing out his newly wedded wife in order to marry another woman. Even before the honeymoon was over, their marriage hit the rocks sometime in July, with both parties pointing accusing fingers at each other.
“He used to tell me that if I left, I would not get a husband, and that he had scores of beautiful girls hanging around him,” says Marion, who is now back at her Murang’a village.
However, Pastor Kiarie denied the accusation and instead accused Marion of destroying their marriage through her weird behaviour, offensive words, attempt to assault him in front of friends and blood relations and accusing him of infidelity.
“Actually, that was the third time I chased her and it has now been successful. She wanted to control me but that is not African. I said we rather separate than have one of us dead,” he explains.
Marion felt offended that Kiarie rarely funded her salon makeover sessions, while Kiarie said: “she even said I never bought her underwear. I don’t consider her sober and I want her sanity checked. I believe nobody can stay with her unless she changes.”
The short-lived marriage has been the talk of the village in Gaturi, Murang’a County and in Kayole. Kiarie says events that followed the wedding left him broke and unable to cater for her and their unborn baby.
“I did not want to send her away. I have never assaulted her, but being a pastor, everybody thinks I am the problem. A wife means a lot to a man, but Marion is not worth living with. She will harm me.”
While Marion claimed that the pastor was pressurized by his parents and siblings to dump her, Kiarie said that she was spoilt by her parents who failed to reach out to the other side and mend differences.
Both admitted that the four months they courted was too short to really know each other.
“We had not shared a house or bed before we wedded,” said Kiarie.
Marion’s father, Gabriel Chege said that he overlooked Kikuyu traditions by allowing the wedding to take place before Kiarie had paid bride price.
Source: SDE.CO,KE. [myad]
