Ruto pilot to be buried after mum, ‘wife’ agree to end court battles
Deputy President William Ruto’s pilot Mario Magonga who died in a helicopter crash will be buried next Saturday.
This is after his mother Melania Magonga struck an agreement with a woman, Joy Mwangi, who claimed to be his wife, on where he should be buried.
The agreement has been presented to High court Jacqueline Kamau.
Captain Mario will now be buried in Kitale, four months after his death.
The pilot’s mother had initially refused to recognise Ms Mwangi as her son’s wife, prompting the woman to move to court.
Mrs Magonga claimed Ms Mwangi was not legally married to her son.
The court heard that the pilot had married one Harriet Nekoye but both parted ways in 2008.
But in court, Nekoye stated that she is legal wife of the pilot. She produced a marriage certificate that showed they got married in May 2001.
In her defence, Ms Mwangi produced a divorce order from court indicating that Mario’s marriage to Nekoye was official dissolved in February 2017.
Ms Mwangi told the court that she met Mario in 2007 and they started living together in 2008.
Captain Mario Magonga was the pilot of a helicopter that crashed near Lake Turkana at Lobolo in Central Island National park on March 3, killing all the five on board.