A Kenyan pastor has ignited online debate after disclosing that he took a new wife a year before his first wife succumbed to stage 4 breast cancer.
Pastor Habil Were shared his story on Facebook, describing the emotional and physical toll of caring for his bedridden wife, Jennifer, while battling his own health struggles.
He said he had delayed seeking treatment for a prostate condition out of fear over who would care for Jennifer in his absence.
According to Were, he met the woman who would become his second wife, Mary Habil, during this difficult period. He said Mary had developed a close bond with Jennifer and supported both of them through their illnesses, including standing by him during an eight-month stretch when he relied on catheters.
The preacher, an outspoken advocate for polygynous Christian marriage, said his mother-in-law had encouraged Jennifer to share him with another woman. He added that he is still waiting for a third woman, Florence Kananu, to join the union.
Were defended his choice publicly, saying marital status should not disqualify a man from preaching and that transparency was central to his approach to relationships.
“I believe in love with openness,” he said, arguing that concealing a new wife would have been neither scriptural nor healthy.
He also spoke about his children, Alice, Yehoshua and Israel, who attended Jennifer’s funeral and, in his words, represented their mother’s presence despite her absence for reasons he did not explain.
The disclosure has split opinion online, with some Kenyans questioning the timing of the new marriage while others say judgment should be withheld without knowing the private family discussions that shaped the decision.