Franklin Mithika Linturi is the current Agriculture And Livestock Development CS in President William Ruto’s government. He has been in active politics for more than two decades now. He started out as an insurance broker before venturing into politics.
Despite flopping in his two attempts to be a parliamentarian, he did not give up hope and eventually in 2007 he became the member of parliament for Igembe South Constituency.
He is one of those legislators who has had his fair share of scandals. His ex-wife, Marianne Kitany, who once held a powerful position in the office of the deputy president, accused the then Meru Senator of attempting to poison her, being abuse and transferring her property to himself.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Age
He was born in 1969 in Igembe, Meru county.
Education
He attended Amwamba Primary School before proceeding to Igembe Boys Secondary School.
The senator then went on to pursue a Diploma in Marketing from Kenya Institute of Marketing (KIM), a certificate course in Insurance from College of Insurance.
He also attended Meru Technical College for a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) course. He is also said to have done a business course at the University of Colombia.
Career
After school, he worked with several insurance companies as an agent. In 1999, he founded Arkehoice Insurance Brokers Ltd where he is the managing director. The firm has branches in Maua and Nairobi.
Politics
In 1997, he vied for the Igembe South parliamentary seat under the Safina party but lost to Jackson Itirithia Kalweo who vied on a KANU party ticket. He would later pin the loss on the fact that his party was registered late.
After the loss, he joined the National Development Party of Kenya (NDP), which merged with KANU and is now defunct.
In 2002, he vied for the Igembe parliamentary seat, this time under the KANU party ticket. He lost to Raphael Muriungi who was a member of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) party.
In 2007, he contested for the Igembe South parliamentary seat for the third time. This time the odds were in his favor and he won the seat under the KANU party. Therefore, he joined the 10th Parliament.
In 2013, he contested for the Igembe South constituency seat under the TNA party. In March, the same year, he became a member of the Departmental Committee on Energy, Communications and Information and also a member of Public Investments Committee and House Business Committee.
In 2017, he vied for the Meru senatorial seat under the Jubilee Coalition and won, making him the second senator of the county.
Trivia
Court case with ex-wife Kitany
The politicians previously had disputes with his estranged wife Marianne Kitany.
Linturi’s name was dragged in the mud when she accused the legislator of assaulting her. She claimed the MP threatened to kill her during a domestic brawl at their home in Runda. Kitany went on to secure a restraining order and exclusive occupation of their residence.
In a separate article published by Business Daily on 8th March 2021, the legislator was in another storm after he was accused of obtaining Ksh530 million through forgery. She was accused him of forging signatures to secure the multimillion-shilling loan from Family bank.
The senator was seeking court protection against his impending arrest. Atticon Ltd, a company that was owned by both of them, was right at the center of this conflict.
The Meru senatorial has previously disowned Kitany saying she was never his wife.
On 28th April 2021, Senate speaker Kenneth Lusaka adjourned the sitting convened to debate the Constitution Amendment Bill, 2020 after Mithika Linturi was arrested.
Rape charges
The legislator moved to court to stop his imminent arrest or being charged with attempted rape and indecent act with an adult, the Star has reported.
According to the publication, the Meru Senator entered into the couple’s room at Maiyan Villas Resort Nanyuki when the husband had left and attempted to rape the man’s wife.
The legislator found the door open and eased himself to the bed without uttering a word. The woman thought it was her husband and did not bother to switch on the lights. Linturi allegedly proceeded to touch her in a very unusual manner.
The woman was to later discover the man in her bed was not her husband. Her statement read:
“Thirty minutes later she heard a knock on the door and went to open the door only to find her husband standing at the door prompting her to switch on the lights since she was confused who was in her bed whom she thought was her husband.”
They raised an alarm when they discovered a stranger in the bed. Their friends who were with them in the hotel responded and one of them was able to identify the stranger as Mithika Linturi.
