The doting father of television anchor Jacque Maribe wanted her last born daughter to dump fiancé Joseph ‘Jowie’ Irungu, the main suspect in the gruesome murder of Monica Kimani,
Monica’s throat was slit in her apartment along Dennis Pritt Road in Nairobi.
She was buried last week. According to police, Jowie was positively identified as the last man in her apartment.
Jowie has maintained his innocence, even as Jacque was also roped in, questioned and detained by police over the case.
But close family members sources intimated to The Nairobian that Jacque’s dad, Pastor Mwangi Maribe, a preacher in Nairobi’s Buruburu estate, went to her apartment in Lang’ata with the sole mission of persuading her to get rid of the man relatives termed as “boastful, controlling, manipulative and with anger issues.”
Of concern were, among other issues, that although Jacque had introduced Jowie, the Maribes knew very little about his family.
Jowie engaged Jacque in July this year.
“The father asked Jowie when he will present bride price and he responded that, ‘Nitajipanga.’ Jowie is alleged to own a house in Buruburu, where he was often spotted driving Jacque’s car, which is now being held by the police as an exhibit.
That encounter between Jacque’s dad and his presumed son-in-law to be was one of several meetings that the Maribes figured bringing up the issue of ruracio (bride price negotiations) would help in gauging Jowie’s seriousness about the relationship.
Jacque, the last born of three girls, is said to be her daddy’s darling.
His favourite, but whose choice of lovers had been raising his antennae of paternal instincts, explained the close family friend.
The friend further revealed that the father was concerned about Jacque’s string of lovers who had been introduced to him.
The Nairobian spoke to a number of Jacque’s close friends. A majority of them painted a picture of an intelligent and ambitious woman, whose domestic life was punctuated by affairs that could have arched the eyebrows of a puritan aunt.
“She is smart, very smart and is very kind”, said a friend of Jacque’s.
Jacque worked as a political affairs reporter after graduating from the University of Nairobi and then shortly, joined Citizen TV in the same capacity in 2012, before later being promoted to the position of news anchor.
“Though she comes across as upper-middle class owing to the glamour that comes with television, Jacque is in reality just the simple girl-next-door,” said a bosom buddy, adding that to some, she comes across as aloof because of her “preference to hang out with people who have connections.”
Those people and their networks, combined with her charm, work ethic and drive, launched her into the inner sanctum of the Jubilee political machine during the 2017 presidential election campaigns.
She even got a Head of State Commendation, ahead of her far more accomplished and senior colleagues.
On how she’s coping with the sudden turn of fortunes, the bosom pal explained that Jacque “is emotional, breaks into tears easily but is also very strong and rarely shows emotion when in trouble, like now.”
Indeed, it is the same disposition to emotions which another close family buddy attributes to falling for Jowie who was known to splash her with flowers, drive her to and from work, in between spoiling her as young lovers do.
“She was hopelessly in love with Jowie”, disclosed the family friend, adding that irrespective of her being in the limelight “like every mother, she is overprotective of her baby.”
The friend was referring to her son whom she gave birth to when she was dating comedian Eric Omondi.
“Her baby daddy is Eric Omondi, but he bailed out on her and this profoundly affected her” said another friend who was close to the two at the time.
The friend disclosed that the comedian has been footing child support bills since the baby was born in May 2014.
Contacted by The Nairobian, Eric Omondi was reluctant to be drawn into the matter, but later relented and said: “I know the baby daddy, however, it is not a good time to reveal him since Jacque is undergoing a difficult time.”
His friends in comedy circles confirmed that the paternity is an open secret. But when Omondi left, another affair followed with another man with whom she cohabited in Mountain View estate Nairobi before dumping him “for being too emotionally needy.”
Then Jowie entered the scene. After her engagement, she posted their photos and message on her social media pages stating that, “We’ve been together for a while now. We are growing stronger everyday now, it feels so good and there’s no doubt I will stay with you… through the ups and downs… when no one else is around, and when the dark clouds arise, I will stay by your side, I know we’ll be alright, I will stay with you (sic)…”
Stay, she did.
