Social media has been buzzing with posts revisiting the life of Ruth Akinyi, the former wife of Kenyan politician and businessman Raphael Tuju.
Once part of Kenya’s high society, living in a sprawling Karen mansion, Akinyi’s story has resurfaced in viral videos and threads highlighting her dramatic fall from luxury to running a modest roadside eatery.
As of early 2026, a YouTube documentary revisiting the couple’s acrimonious 2013 separation has reignited public interest in the scandal that shattered their 27-year marriage.
Ruth Akinyi (also referred to as Ruth Wanjare Akinyi) married Raphael Tuju on November 15, 1986. The couple, who built a prominent life together, had three children: twin daughters Alma and Wimma, and a son, Mano Tuju.
For decades, they enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in Karen, Nairobi, where their expansive home reportedly costing Sh20 million to build on 10 acres featured twin stairways, a chandelier, a mock waterfall, a real river, and meticulously manicured gardens.
The family traveled internationally and featured in glossy magazines like Drum in 2011.
Tuju, a former Rarieda MP, Foreign Affairs Minister, and media entrepreneur through Ace Communications, invested heavily in real estate and later opened the upscale Dari Restaurant in Karen after the split.
Cracks appeared publicly around 2011. In court papers filed in 2013, Tuju cited adultery, alleging that Akinyi had become “very abusive and disrespectful,” even in front of their children and workers.
He named Tony Ogunda, a GSU officer who worked as the family’s bodyguard and security detail, as the man at the centre of the affair.
Tuju obtained photographic evidence and private investigator reports, leading him to file for judicial separation after 27 years of marriage.
The scandal escalated tragically. In July 2013, Ogunda was found dead on a sofa in a property linked to Tuju in Upper Hill, Nairobi.
A postmortem revealed blunt force trauma to the head and internal brain bleeding; a syringe was reportedly involved, sparking mystery and police investigations.
Detectives questioned Akinyi, Tuju, their son Mano, and Akinyi’s nephew Cosmas Okoth (who was last seen with Ogunda and later held).
The case involved claims of death threats and trespassing violations of a court order against Ogunda. No final conviction was publicly reported, and the matter remains one of Kenya’s most talked-about unresolved family dramas.
Court battles extended beyond the divorce. There were disputes over maintenance, restraining orders, and even a controversial attempt by the daughters to question Akinyi’s mental capacity in an assault-related case (which the court rejected).
Tuju offered in sworn affidavits to pay Akinyi Sh200,000 monthly in maintenance, settle her remaining Sh180,000 car loan in instalments, and cover medical bills while expressing concern that extra funds might support her alleged “jobless young man.”
After the separation, Akinyi’s life changed profoundly. By around 2015, she had opened a small roadside eatery (often described as a kibandaski or humble hotel) along Mombasa Road in Nairobi’s Eastlands area.
She reportedly starts work around 10 a.m., preparing and selling affordable local delicacies chapati, matumbo (tripe), liver, fish, beef stew, and rice cooked on charcoal jikos for office workers. Meals range from Sh250 to Sh450, served on plastic chairs with no frills or private seating.