A Storied Marriage Life, Varied Religious Beliefs, Endorsment of Raila Odinga And The Other Interesting Things You Need To Know About Willy Mutunga

Willy Mutunga yesterday resigned his position as the CJ calling an end to a stint that has been acclaimed as well as criticized in some quarters.

Aside from his rulings and leadership at the helm of the judiciary, Willy Mutunga’s personal life and personality has always attracted interest for the intrigues that have covered. Here are a couple of interesting facts about the outgoing Chief Justice;

Education

Willy Mutunga has earned a reputation as a top scholar and an intellectual. His bright mind is something that started quite a long time ago. At Kitui School he became the first student to score 6 points all A’s in his KCE exam. He earned his LLB at University of Nairobi before proceeding to University of Dar es salaam. He became the first indigenous lecturer at the UON to teach constitutional law.

Marriage Life

Justice Mutunga has had a drama filled marriage life. He has married twice divorcing both times and in between he has had two children with two other ladies. His had two children with his first wife. While details of his other relations have been scanty it was his divorce case with his last wife Beverly M Lax that is well known in the public thanks to the drama it elicited. The couples were so estranged that at one point they just communicated via mail. He accused her of being cruel and abusive and he filed the divorce when their differences which occurred by his relationship with his exes and children could not be sorted out.

Wealth

He was among the first senior government official to declare their wealth saying he is valued at 80 million. He has an apartment LR No: 209/4517-64 valued at Sh15 million. Another property LR No: 330/586-A3 located in Nairobi is worth Sh19.1 million, according to the filing for the period January 2012 to November 2015. In 2011 he revealed he was expecting 33.3 million before taxes as part of his benefits and pension from former employer Ford Foundation. For his years in service he has earned close to 100 million both from the Judicial Service Commission where he was the chairman and his job as a CJ and several other allowances.

Religion

The CJ has gone the full circle as far as religion is concerned. While he says he believes in African religion, he was baptized in a Pentecostal church, has once been a Roman Catholic worshiper before converting to Islam. His ear stud has long been the subject of discussion but the former CJ has always insisted he uses the ring to communicate with his ancestors.

Politics

Unknown to many people, he has played a prominent role in the Kenyan politics. While many are familiar with his advocacy of human rights and fight for multiparty politics, few know he played an integral role in the establishment of the NAK that later morphed into NARC with the joining of LDP. He was even offered the chairmanship of the party but turned down the offer.

For his efforts in forging that union despite his study and seniority it was only under Mwai Kibaki’s presidency in 2003 that he was made Senior Counsel. He would later fall out with the Kibaki administration following the wrangles in the party and his identification with the Raila Odinga’s LDP wing. He even turned down Kibaki’s appointment of him to the JKUAT University Council.

In Raila Odinga’s autobiography he described the Opposition leader as an aggressive and astute politician but also critiqued him for his contradictions as a nationalist and patriot on one hand while an ethnic baron on the other hand. He however defended him as someone who has fought against dictatorships and for social justice.