Judy Nyawira, the wife of actor Abel Mutua, recently opened up about the heartbreaking details of her father’s death and the challenges her family faced afterward.
In a candid interview with CTA (Cleaning The Airwaves), Judy shared the painful story of her father’s illness, the in-laws’ reaction, and her mother’s resilience.
Judy revealed that her father had suffered a stroke and was in and out of hospitals during her childhood.
Their house in Nairobi was filled with the smell of medication, marking her memories of that time.
” My dad suffered a stroke and he had started going for Physiotherapy.
What I remember about our house in Nairobi was the smell of medication. While in class six my dad was in and out of hospital.
We went to the hospital on a Saturday as my dad had requested my mum to take all of us. On Sunday my dad passed away.”
When her father passed away, her mother, only 36 years old at the time, was left to care for Judy and her siblings.
Tragically, soon after her father’s death, the family faced hostility from their paternal in-laws.
They demanded her father’s property, including the money he had in the bank, which amounted to 2 million Kenyan Shillings.
Judy’s maternal grandmother and her eldest children led the effort to evict them from their 5-bedroom home.
Years later, Judy learned the full truth about her father’s condition.
She met the doctor who treated him and discovered that he had HIV/AIDS, which had worsened his stroke.
The revelation shed light on the reasons for the in-laws’ actions and the accusations against her mother.
“I had gone to the hospital where my dad was being treated before his death The doctor asked me If I knew what had killed my dad. I was a bit shocked because I knew it was a stroke. The doctor said he had a stroke but he also had something else, he told me to ask my mum about it when I was old enough. The reason for my in-laws attacking my mum was because he had HIV/AIDS, That is why he never recovered from the stroke.”
Despite the false accusations and the loss of their home, Judy’s mother fought back.
She had done a civil wedding with her husband, making her the rightful owner of the property.
With the support of her maternal family and the legal system, they reclaimed their house.
“My relatives from my dad’s side accused my mum of infecting my dad with HIV. They alleged they had come to remove my mum who they referred to as a ‘prostitute’ from the home. They said my mum was sleeping around when my dad was working in Nairobi. Just to be clear, my mum has never had AIDS. We were eventually thrown out of the house. My mum’s side of the family stood by her so we went back to her home.”
Police and court officials accompanied them during the process, ensuring their safety.
“The court gave us back the right to the property. The specific day we were to go back to our house we had two cops and a person from the court.
She was taken to every house and was asked to take back everything that had been taken by the in-laws.
For two/three days we had cops outside our house, we all slept in one bedroom, despite the house being five bedrooms.
After the police left, our neighbors formed a proper Nyumba Kumi and they would safeguard us.
They formed a group and Mum had to take the contacts of all the people (men) in the group, when she needed them they came through.”
Judy says her paternal in-laws managed to take away the 2 million her dad had in the bank
Despite the challenges, Judy’s mother displayed incredible strength and determination.
Starting from scratch, she took a job sweeping the County Market, earning 200 Kenyan Shillings per day.
“My mum had to start from scratch and the first job she got was sweeping the County Market. Before then she was a housewife.
She would get paid 200 per day.”
