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What started as their usual online clout chasing stunt between power couple Sarah and Simon Kabu of famous Bonfire Adventures has taken an unexpected twist.
A video that went viral recently has now lifted the lid on the couple’s rocky marriage with Simon’s firearm being confiscated as Sarah presses the police to take action against her husband. Apparently, the two no longer live together.
In the video, Sarah who is seen armed with a knife engages another woman in a scuffle before she is repulsed by a third party that appears to be Simon in a house at Edenville in Kiambu believed to belong to the couple.
In a desperate bid to save face and do damage control, the couple took to social media and tried to explain what transpired. At some point some of their followers concluded it was just a clout, unaware the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) sleuths were closing in on the power couple.
The couple have jointly been running Bonfire Adventures for more than a decade with Simon being the Chief Executive Officer while Sarah serves as Managing Director.
After police got involved, Sarah has spilled the beans about what has been happening away from public glare for more than two years as husband and wife portrayed an image of a perfect and happy family running a multi-million-shilling business empire.
Simon is now being investigated. On December 9, he was summoned to appear before the detectives to shed light about the viral video. Afterwards the sleuths visited the house where they took his firearm after retrieving the footage.
Kabu gun saga
Other items recovered, he said, included firearm certificate, ammunition, black magazine and DVR digital video recorder.
Sarah’s lawyer Peter Njagi wants the DCI to conduct thorough investigations accusing Simon of threatening and intimidating his client while armed with a firearm.
“Our client is among the victims who have suffered grave intimidation and threats to her life at the hands of her estranged spouse, Simon Kabu,” the complaint letter reads in part.
Meanwhile a tell it all narration captured in her statement, Sarah has now opened up, revealing how her husband allegedly acquired a gun behind her back in a case that is before investigators at the Nairobi Area.
The two have been married for the last 15 years and co-founded the travel company which has been rated among the best in the country.
In the statement Sarah reveals that it was until June 1, 2024 when she made the final decision to seek a divorce from Simon citing numerous unresolved issues which, she claims, caused her severe emotional distress affecting her health.
“Simon Kabu has issued explicit incredible threats against my life, including a statement made in presence of witnesses to the effect that ‘if Sarah is found dead along Thika Road, no one should blame me’,” she stated
Sarah added: “Simon has repeatedly boasted about his connection with influential individuals asserting that he can harm me without facing consequences. Such threats are not only a source of fear and but also violation of the law.”
At some point, Sarah claims to have discovered a firearm recklessly placed in their matrimonial home in June 2024. It was easily accessible to children, and that Simon used the weapon to threaten her during an argument. Further, the carried the pistol during a birthday celebration for their child.
“The acquisition of a firearm coincided with heightened marital conflict, further demonstrating its use as a tool of intimidation,” the statement reads in part.
In the statement, she accuses Simon of using bloggers to leak distorted video in an attempt to portray her as abusive and violent while concealing the part in which he was captured threatening her on a viral video date July 9, 2024 at their home.
Sarah claims following the incident, she voluntarily signed a consent on October 15, 2024 with Office of Directorate of Public Prosecutions (ODDP) in Kiambu in the presence of her husband, lawyer, investigating officer, and state counsel.
“Simon had exclusive access of the CCTV system installed at our home, which allowed him to manipulate the footage selectively,” she claims.
Living separately
It is alleged that the two have been living separately for a while but had co-parenting duties where the father had access to the children.
On that particular day, Sarah had gone to pick the children only to find the woman captured in the video, leading to a scuffle. She claims in her statement that the nasty part capturing Simon was edited out.
Reached out on phone to give his side of the story, Simon said he could not comment because he was attending an event.
In the footage, Sarah claims her husband threatened her using a gun and abusive words, claiming the release of the edited video was timed to coincide with the launch of her initiative dubbed ‘Virtues Women’ slated for December 7.
The video she claims has caused her emotional distress, undermined her personal and professional integrity, and publicly humiliated her.
She also cited economic sabotage, claiming Simon had established a new business aimed at undermining Bonfire Adventures.
Sarah disclosed in the statement there is an ongoing divorce and children’s upkeep case, and stressed the need to protect the welfare of the kids.
In her plea to the police, she asked them to probe legality and misuse of the firearm, threats and emotional abuse.
A day after the video was leaked, Simon in an online video, alleged that his wife escaped from being linked to a criminal case.
He said the woman in the viral video had reported the case to police following his intervention.
The video shows Sarah in a heated altercation, pushing the woman out of her house as her husband tries to stop her.
In the process, Simon said the woman was hurt and she lodged a complaint at Kiambu Police Station. “The case was dropped after I intervened and mediated. A consensus was reached after Sarah apologized,” Simon said, adding that he does not want to judge people since some things can happen as a result of emotions.
“My relationship with my nanny is purely professional, that of employer-employee. Even after she left, I still have a nanny here. I can’t stay without a nanny. I am a professional person,” he explained.
He dismissed claims that the woman in question was pregnant with his child. Simon told “keyboard warriors” to stop tainting the woman’s name, saying their relationship was professional.
He said he and Sarah have equal shares at Bonfire Adventures. “We run the company with Sarah in unison and any other rumors outside are just noises because we are growing bigger and better,” he said.
Simon’s affirmations have answered Sarah’s question as to who leaked the footage yet her husband was the only one who had the CCTV password.
Sarah, in earlier video, had likened her matrimonial home in Runda as pharaoh’s palace after people on social media accused her of forcibly ejecting the house help.
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