The life and times of Yvonne Wamalwa

Yvonne Wamalwa, the widow of former Vice President the late Michael Kijana Wamalwa is dead.

According to a source in the family, Yvonne died early Thursday morning in Nanyuki and the body will be moved to the Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi.

Describing her tough upbringing in an interview with the a local newspaper prior to her demise, Yvonne revealed that she first set foot into a club at the age of 18.

“My mother was a strict parent. She used the threat of corporal punishment to make sure her rules were followed. So I was a ‘very sensible teenager’ but at 18, my brother took me out to a club for the first time with permission from mum and after that, I really enjoyed being a teen,” she said.

Yvonne got married to Michael Christopher Wamalwa in 2003; a grand wedding that was attended by the political heavyweights of the time, including Raila Odinga, Mwai Kibaki and his wife First Lady Lucy Kibaki, with Musikari Kombo as the best man and Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi as one of the groomsmen.

After the death of Kijana Wamalwa following a heart attack in the United Kingdom, barely six months after their grand union, his four children took Yvonne to court over the late former VP’s estate.

Jabali, Muthoni, William Wamalwa and William Wamalwa Jr claimed that their stepmother, Yvonne Wamalwa, could not account for Ksh3.4 million that was in their father’s briefcase at the time of his death as well as Ksh36.7 million released by Parliament as his pension.

The eventual rulings of the case remain unknown, but Yvonne decided to go back to school soon after burying her husband.

With the pressure of raising two children alone weighing on her shoulders, the Jazz, Classical and Gospel music fan enrolled for a Masters in Policing, Terrorism, Counter Terrorism and International Security at the Macquarie University in Australia.

At almost around the same time, also, then President Mwai Kibaki appointed her Deputy Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Habitat offices in Nairobi, a position she held for three years after which she was appointed to Australia as the Deputy High Commissioner.

The one thing she hated about the job, she revealed during the interview, was being away from her family; a burden she said was lessened by technological advances in the field of communication such as WhatsApp, Skype, and Twitter.