Wife of banker facing charges before US court accuses Kenya police, civil society of failing to help her

Dr Leonard Mwithiga at a court in Conneticut, US. [Courtesy]

When an Uber driver allegedly hired by a wealthy Kenyan facing charges before a US court over a plot to kill his wife tipped investigators, they went to interview the woman to understand their fallout.

Her narrative to the US police is an indictment of their Kenyan counterparts. She claimed that despite filing complaints against Dr Leonard Mwithiga, the police never acted.

She said she left Kenya in August last year after Mwithiga's cousin reportedly told her her life and those of her two children were in danger.

The woman said she contacted multiple agencies, including the police, Amnesty International, Federation of Women's Lawyers and Ombusdman's office as well as civil society organisations but they failed to act.

She claimed she copied her plea for help to the CEO of Kenya Commercial Bank and the bank's chairman. Mwithiga's wife told investigators that she believed, owing to his stature and influence in Kenya, no one believed her story.

She said that on September 20, last year, she obtained air tickets and flew to New York. She explained that she had no contacts and ended up staying in the homes of well-wisher.

The woman said she ended up with her children in a United Services Shelter in August.

A month later, she said, a lawyer told her that Mwithiga had filed a case to force her to bring the minors back to Kenya. At the same time, she claimed he had hired two private investigators to follow one of the minors.

She attended the court in the US on September 22, while Mwithiga appeared virtually. She said she was afraid of him.