How I ended up a single mother after 16 years of married life
Winfred Kemunto from Nakuru County.
If Winfred Kemunto had known she would one day be raising four children alone after her husband left her and disappeared without a trace, she might have made a different decision when the man she thought she would grow old with came to court her.
The 38-year-old found solace in an early relationship that led to marriage as she sought to escape the challenges of her humble background.
In the beginning it was bliss, her husband was loving and caring. Their relationship was almost perfect, she dares say.
Also Read: My boyfriend left, termed twins a curse
But 16 years later, while pregnant with their fourth child, the foundations of their union crumbled. The pregnancy became a turning point, unravelling the threads of a once promising marriage.
"From the beginning our relationship had no problems, but in 2014, when I gave birth to our third child, my husband ran away from home for a year without me knowing his whereabouts," Ms Kemunto says.
Her efforts to reach him through his mobile phone number were in vain as his phone was switched off.
After a year of restless nights fearing the worst, he miraculously returned home.
Also Read: How I lost my husband to my best friend
But like a bad scene from a movie that keeps repeating itself, her husband left again.
"The last incident happened towards the end of 2020 when he happened to know about my fourth pregnancy which was only three months at the time and this time time when he went he came back after a few days and upon his return he would give me money ranging from Sh20 to Sh100," she said.
Painfully, Ms Kemunto said what hurt her most was that during the three months he was away, he went from being mteja to deliberately blocking her number.
"Whenever he disappeared and came back, he always picked fights, making it seem like I was the problem. When all this was happening I was doing my research and I knew he was having an affair, but I couldn't confront him," she said.
She put up with her husband's behaviour for years. But one day he left for good.
"The day of our anniversary, a month before I gave birth, which was supposed to mark our commitment to each other, became the day that fate decided to redefine our lives, leaving me to face the abrupt end of a chapter that I thought would last a lifetime, alone," She lamented..
Ms Kemunto thanks her neighbours who came together and donated money to pay for her hospital bills and return home, as her husband left her and still refuses to take responsibility.