Early last year, Kenyans were stunned when a
56-year-old woman moved to court to sue
her step grandchild aged 24 for snatching her
husband.
The family feud had reportedly been brewing
for three years before spilling out. Grace
Mwende accused Florence Nduku of insulting
her through a chain of text messages after
allegedly starting an intimate relationship
with her husband, Daniel Mwongela, 61.
Nduku is facing six counts of misusing a
communication gadget. Some of the text
messages received between July 12, 2013
and early 2015 referred to Mwende as an “old
hag” who “could not satisfy the old man” and
that she lost her “sweetness a long time
ago,” thus it was her (Nduku’s) turn to enjoy
the old man’s “honey.”
She also reportedly insulted Mwende that she
is a witch and husband snatcher who once
sold herself in five-star hotels.
She denied the charges and was set free on a
Sh100,000 cash bail or bond of Sh300,000
with a surety of a similar amount.
But in an unexpected turn of events, Nduku
has changed her mind in court and confessed
that Mwongela proposed to her and she was
unhappy to share him with her granny
Mwende.
“I acted out of anger and I’m very sorry. We
were sharing a man with Mwende. He
(Mwongela) had promised to marry me,”
Nduku stated in her mitigation.
Their purported secret relationship came to
light in 2011 just three months after Mwende,
a boutique owner and Mwongela wedded in a
church ceremony in Machakos.
Initially, Mwongela who worked in Malindi,
used to visit Mwende in Nairobi on a monthly
basis, but unknown to her, Nduku – who was
one of her bridesmaids during their wedding
– was also eyeing the old man.
Nduku told the court that she has been in an
intimate relationship with Mwongela and it
would be tiresome to appear in court daily.
Besides, she claimed to be in the process of
preparing to leave the country for unknown
reasons and hence her change of plea and
stunning confession.
Nduku was fined Sh10,000 in five counts or
serve three months in jail for all the counts.
She was however discharged on one count, a
ruling that Mwende claims to be ‘fishy,’
considering the initial bond terms.
“At the moment, I don’t have the heart to
forgive Nduku for what she did to me. It hurts
a lot and I don’t think I will even forgive her,”
Mwende told The Nairobian.
According to Mwende, the text messages
were gross and ruined her relationship with
other family members and “some elders have
since approached me that I ought to forgive
her but it is hard because I raised her like my
own.”
She added that, “The bitter part is how her
father defended her and told me he is ready
to receive dowry from Mwongela. For now, I
will just take a break before embarking on the
next course of action and probably find
another option to seek justice.”
