Former news anchor Esther Adongo Arunga has made a significant change to her official identity, formally abandoning the surname Timberlake that she adopted after marrying Quincy Timberlake in 2010.
According to a report on Monday, October 12, a notice in the Kenya Gazette dated October 9 confirmed that Arunga had renounced her former name,Esther Adongo Timberlake, and reverted to Esther Adongo Arunga.
The notice directed that she should henceforth be identified and addressed by her restored name.
The development marks a new chapter in the life of the former television personality, whose personal journey attracted widespread attention in Kenya more than a decade ago.
Before her life became the subject of intense public discussion, Arunga was a familiar face on Kenyan television.
She worked at Capital FM and KTN and received the 2008 Chaguo la Teeniez Award for Best Teen TV Anchor. She was also admitted to the bar in Nairobi in 2009.
In March 2010, Arunga publicly announced that she had changed her name after marrying Timberlake.
Their relationship later became associated with a tragic legal case in Australia following the death of their young son, Sinclair, in 2014.
In 2019, Arunga pleaded guilty to being an accessory in connection with the child’s death and received a 10-month sentence, with immediate release on parole.
Timberlake later pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2023 and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The latest name change places her personal identity back under the surname she used before her marriage, following years of legal and personal turmoil.