Nairobi mum recounts how hubby abandoned her in hospital, paid dowry for another woman

• Salome Wambui, a mother of two from Njoro, Nakuru County, moved to Nairobi in 2024 after dating her husband for about a year
• She told TUKO.co.ke that her husband began distancing himself when she became pregnant, coming home only once a week before leaving again
• Salome also narrated how her now ex-husband missed her grandmother's burial, ran a way from their home several times before paying dowry for another woman

Salome Wambui thought she had found the love that would last a lifetime. Instead, the mother of two from Njoro, Nakuru County, says she found herself pregnant, alone and abandoned in a city she barely knew.

Speaking exclusively to TUKO.co.ke, Salome described how her marriage allegedly fell apart after she relocated to Nairobi in 2024 to build a life with her husband, following roughly a year of dating.

The move meant leaving her job in Nakuru behind, along with the financial independence and familiarity she had relied on.

When the Relationship Began to Unravel

According to Salome, the first clear signs of trouble came after her husband told her he had secured work driving matatus on the Kitengela route.

From then on, his visits home were limited to Wednesdays, arriving in the morning and leaving by 3 pm, citing the difficulty of travelling back from Kitengela after dark. When she proposed that they relocate closer to his workplace, he refused.

The distance, both physical and emotional, deepened when she was five months pregnant and her grandmother, the woman who had raised her after her mother's death, passed away.

She called her husband to share the grief, but says his response was dismissive.

"He just told me, 'Okay,'" she recalled, and when she questioned his reaction, he reportedly asked what she expected him to do.

She attended the burial without him. While she was away, she received a message from him saying he intended to collect his belongings and live separately.

Initially, she believed it was an empty threat, but she later noticed items disappearing from their home in stages, with some taken away and others left behind before he returned for the rest.

Isolated and Heavily Pregnant

With no income, no familiarity with Nairobi and a pregnancy advancing, Salome found herself in an increasingly desperate situation. Her sister became her primary source of support, either bringing food to her or welcoming her over for meals.

"I had no other option because I was heavily pregnant and couldn't work. I kept hoping he would change once I gave birth," she said.

For a time, she stayed with her sister whenever her husband was absent, which became more frequent. She had confided in her sister about the deteriorating marriage but eventually chose to stop, feeling that she was placing too heavy a burden on her.

Salome's account paints a picture of a woman who gave up her livelihood and familiar surroundings for a marriage that she alleges offered her little in return, leaving her to navigate pregnancy largely on her own in an unfamiliar city.

Salome Borrowed Money From M-Pesa Agent to Pay Hospital Bill

Furthermore, Salome shared the harrowing account of how she was left to fend for herself during and after childbirth, borrowing money from a stranger just to gain admission to hospital while her husband was nowhere to be found.

Salome said the stress she endured during her pregnancy led to frequent bleeding episodes. She delivered a month before her due date after doctors induced labour.

From the hospital bed, she phoned her husband and asked him to send money for the admission deposit. He told her he had been arrested in Athi River. Sceptical, she offered to have her sister reach out to someone who could assist him, but his response stopped her cold.

"He told me that if my sister was the one who would help him, he would rather remain locked up," she said.

Where did Salome get money to pay the hospital bill?

With no money coming from her husband, Salome turned to a woman running an M-Pesa shop on the ground floor of the building and borrowed enough to cover the deposit. She gave birth that night. Her husband visited the following day, saw the baby and left without leaving anything behind.

When she was eventually ready to be discharged, she found that items from their home had gone missing, among them a television set, a gas cylinder and a cooker.

She had to borrow again to clear the discharge bill. "I had just given birth, so I needed to eat and take care of myself and the baby," she recalled.

Salome's hubby marries another woman

Her husband returned when the baby was six weeks old, bringing only the television. They lived together for roughly a month before he left again, this time taking the television with him. He came back once more with his clothes but without the set, claiming he had been staying with a friend.

During that same period, Salome sold her fridge to repay those who had helped her financially while she was hospitalised. When she raised the matter with her husband, he turned the question around and asked why she had not consulted him before selling it.

Nonetheless, Salome's suspicions about another woman grew after her husband began working in Kitengela and started guarding his phone closely, even placing it near him while asleep.

At eight months pregnant, she saw messages between her husband and the other woman's mother, which appeared to show money being sent promptly upon request.

That stung, given that her husband had been giving her KSh 150 a day and had not bought a single item for the expected baby.

"There was nothing in the house. I would skip breakfast and lunch so I could save maybe KSh 50 or KSh 70 to buy the baby's clothes," she said.

About a month after he left for good, Salome spotted a photo he had posted on his status showing him and another woman in matching outfits.

She suspected a dowry ceremony had taken place, noting that he had never once visited her own family home or met her grandmother, despite her repeated requests, even as the elderly woman's health declined. She later learned he had converted to Islam and changed his name.

Salome, who left school at Form One owing to financial hardship and had worked jobs ranging from road construction to hotel work and cashier duties in Nakuru before moving to Nairobi, said she had hoped marriage would mark a new chapter.

Asked whether she would take her husband back, she was firm.

"I had always wanted to get married. When I finally did, I looked forward to building a home and having a family. But the person I was trying to build that life with wasn't serious," she said.

She now focuses on raising her children, leaning on her sister's support as she rebuilds.

Source: TUKO.co.ke