Politics and the controversial death of Nyandarua North MP JM Kariuki in 1975 contributed to the divorce of Prof Wangari Maathai, she once told the court.

Is there a story unfolding in your community? Let Hivisasa know

Married to Mwangi Mathai, a former powerful Lang'ata MP and a close friend of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Prof Maathai was accused by ex-husband of adultery.

In the case handled by Zaccheous Chesoni, Prof Maathai was accused of adultery with another powerful politician Waruru Kanja from Nyeri.

But in the court session, Prof Maathai insisted that her husband and Mr Kanja were in the opposing sides of JM Kariuki's murder, and because she also supported Kanja's school of thought, her husband took advantage.

She told the court: “My husband and Mr Kanja had had a split over the JM Kariuki issue (and) I was sympathetic to the (Elijah Mwangale) Probe Committee. Even when they voted in Parliament, they voted in opposite camps.

"The discussion and split continued even at home. Later, my husband told me that he had been warned by the director of CID, Mr Nderi, about any further association with Mr Kanja. The split started in 1975 when JM Kariuki died.”

Kanja also believed that it was the JM issue that saw him included as a co-respondent in the case.

“As of today,” he told the court, “Mr Mathai and I do not see eye to eye, let alone our political groupings. We no longer consult each other. He is still in the opposite camp. In 1974, we were running for an election and in 1975 we had this crisis, which nearly wrecked this country after JM’s death. And after the voting, even Parliament itself was split.

"I was in the opposite camp and Mathai was in the other, and we voted likewise, and this has continued insofar as the two of us are concerned.”

The judge granted Mr Mwangi Mathai divorce, a move that was rejected by Prof Maathai. She accused the courts of being bribed to justify the alleged adultery.

They divorced in 1979. While Mr Mathai's fortunes diminished, Prof Maathai went on to win Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She was also elected as Tetu MP. Her former husband died last week, about 8 years since her death.