A vice chancellor of a public university fired one of the varsity dons to have the lecturer’s wife all to himself, the alleged victim has sensationally claimed.
According to Philip Mayeku, 39, Daniel Njiru, the University of Embu vice chancellor whom he accuses of having an illicit affair with his wife, sent him packing after he found out about the extramarital affair that threatens to tear apart his matrimonial home.
And the heartbroken father of two is now seeking legal redress, amid claims that his own wife, a business management student at the institution, used the VC’s influence to get him sacked. Together with their son, Mayeku’s jobless wife has allegedly walked out of the marriage.
What’s more, Mayeku alleges it is the VC who incited his wife to leave him, further accusing Njiru of meddling in his family affairs. Court papers made available to Weekly Citizen show that Njiru is taking the flak for allegedly being warned to sorting their marital differences in his office.
According to court documents, the VC would often sent text messages demanding they meet in his office at night. One such meeting is said to have lasted for four long hours from 5pm all through to 8pm.
It was after one such sitting, Mayeku claims, that she would use the VC’s office to instigate his sacking. Her warning reportedly came to pass when the lecturer received her matching orders in May 2019 on allegations of gross misconduct and failure to discharge his duties to set benchmarks.
The crestfallen lecturer is now demanding for reinstatement or compensation to the tune of more than Sh7 million.
Mayeku has since produced text messages with the VC in court as evidence. On his part, Njiru denies getting involved in Mayeku’s family affairs, but not without admitting that he has met and given the lecturer’s wife money “to buy food and nothing more”.
The VC, in his witness statement, refutes the allegations leveled against him, saying he will demand and call for Mayeku to substantiate and withdraw the allegations with apology. According to the professor, he was in his office when “a woman came and introduced herself as Mrs Mayeku, then sought my help since her husband had neglected her and their two children…” Njiru states that Mrs Mayeku told him that her husband had not been home for three weeks and that she was aware he was living with another woman who incidentally happened to be an employee of the University of Embu.
The VC claims it was after learning that “the woman” was jobless that he gave her Sh1,000 “and told her to buy food,” promising to talk to her husband at a later date. Njiru states he would eventually sent the claimant a text message to set up a meeting. This, he claims, was not without informing Mayeku that he had given his wife Sh1,000.
Njiru states in the court papers that Mayeku admitted in their subsequent meeting that he was living with another woman, promising to henceforth take care of his family. When Mayeku’s ‘other woman’ on October 28, 2018 allegedly accompanied his wife to the VC’s office lamenting he was not supporting them, he asked for a meeting which Mayeku reportedly rubbished via text message as being beyond the proposed meeting.
It is claimed Mayeku added the rider that his wife used such meetings to disparage him in the VC’s presence, ostensibly to please VC. Things would only get worse when, on October31, 2018, Njiru reportedly received a WhatsApp photo of groceries from Mayeku.
According to Mayeku, the VC demanded that he shows him evidence that he had been providing for his family. When Mayeku chose to skip the VC’s meetings, states Njiru, he handed over the matter to the Prof Eucharia Kenya, the DVC in charge of planning, administration and finance.
It was then that the DVC demanded an explanation why he had defamed the VC over allegations of an extra-marital affair with his wife. A disciplinary committee subsequently constituted to deliberate on the matter would later recommend Mayeku’s sacking for gross misconduct.
Mayeku, who alleges he was not given an opportunity to defend himself, is now demanding Sh7 million for discrimination, harassment, unfair labour practices and compensation for loss of employment
