Yvonne Wamalwa, widow to former Vice President Michael Kijana Wamalwa has passed on.According to information reaching the press, she died at her sister’s home in Nanyuki today morning.Arrangements are being made to airlift the body to Nairobi’s Lee Funeral Home.Below are five things about Yvonne Wamalwa that you probably didn't know:
1.She was appointed by former president Mwai Kibaki to serve as Deputy Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Habitat after the death of her husband. Her assignment was later revoked by Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Monica Juma in controversial circumstances.
2.She was in a legal battle with her step sons over inheritance: The former Vice President Michael Wamalwa Kijana’s widow was in a legal conflict with her two step-sons over expenditures in his estate. Through their sister Alice Muthoni, the two sons William Wamalwa Jnr and William Samuel claimed that Ms Wamalwa had not accounted for Sh3.4 million which was in their father’s briefcase during his death. They also accused her of not explaining how the late Wamalwa's Sh36.7 million pension had been used.
3.She got married to the late Kijana Wamalwa at age 34 while he was 60 years old. The wedding took place six months before Wamalwa's death, something that got Kenyans talking in 2003.
4.She was a vegetarian. In an interview with a local newspaper, She was asked why has she managed to look young despite going through tough times after her husband’s death, she said: “I do not gym or run. I hate pain. But I am a vegetarian and very conscious of what I put in my body. I have been a vegetarian for 20 years. I am a healthy eater; I eat a lot of organic foods. You will find me juicing everything from fruits to raw vegetables. I love brown ugly, nduma, sweet potatoes, kunde and terere.”
5. She was an alumnus of Cardinal Otunga Girls High School and Murdoch University in Australia where she pursued Terrorism and International Security