The Late Prof. Wangari Maathai ex-husband and former Langa’ta MP Mwangi Mathai is dead.
An obituary placed in the Daily Nation announced that the former legislator had passed on without providing details of how and when it happened. The obituary simply read:
“Further details will be communicated later,” which can be interpreted to indicate that the death had occurred recently.
The obituary did not bear any details on funeral arrangements or family associations just that he had served as the Lang’ata constituency MP.
Marriage
The deceased was married to the late Nobel Laureate in 1969 and went on to have her only three known children before they parted ways in 1979.
He launched his book “Beyond Poverty and Vulnerability in Kenya” at the University of Nairobi in 2016 in an event that was graced by his daughter Wanjira. He has also been a present at a majority of events organized by the Greenbelt Movement which was founded by his ex-wife.
Divorce
In her book “Unbowed: One Woman’s Story”, Prof. Maathai recounted that her husband’s decision to leave her came as a surprise.
“I was stunned. This was real: Mwangi had made a decision to leave me,” she recounted.
The former Tetu MP spent three days in jail after confronting the judge who had been presiding over the divorce suit.
She narrated that her ex-husband had requested her to never disclose his identity and for her period in public life her husband remained a mystery.
