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Atwoli lied to lure me into marriage, then he dumped me, embittered wife claims

By THOMAS MATIKO October 15th, 2018 1 min read

The troubled marriage of Cotu Secretary General Francis Atwoli to his third wife, Roselinda Simiyu, has yet again been thrust into public glare with fresh intrigues.

This after Roselinda claimed that the flamboyant trade unionist lied to her so as to lure her into marriage.

In an interview with Radio Jambo, Roselinda narrated events that led to her marriage to Atwoli in 1996, when she was 30 and he was 47.

Roselinda claims that she was lured into marriage by Atwoli after the Cotu boss lied to her that he was a divorcee, yet he was still married to someone else at the time.

“I met Francis in 1996 when I was the chairperson at the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation Workers. He was 47 years, but he never told me he was married. Instead he lied to me that he was divorced,” Roselinda said during the interview.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

And that’s how she became Atwoli’s wife, in a union that was largely happy and blissful for several years.

She also recounted the many sacrifices she has made for Atwoli’s sake, including giving him financial support, only for the vocal trade unionist to turn his back on him years later.

“When he first contested for political office, as his wife, I supported him even with the money I had saved to buy myself a car,” Roselinda said in reference to Atwoli’s unsucessful stab at the Butere parliamentary in 1997.

Roselinda further dismissed claims by Atwoli that he opted to marry 36-year-old TV news anchor Mary Kilobi after she deserted him and ventured into politics without his consent.

“If he was lonely, it was by choice because he was not coming home. He neither called me nor provided money for our children’s upkeep,” Roselinda said.