The announcement came as the senator prepared to bury his mother, Mama Teresia Nyaboke Omoke, who passed away on 29th April 2026 at the age of 81 while receiving treatment at Aga Khan Hospital.
But the burial announcement quickly became the second biggest story of the day.
Onyonka revealed he runs a polygamous household with five wives, including Akombe and a woman named Wanjiru, and that he has 12 children across these relationships.
He then added the detail that stirred social media — he will formally introduce all five wives together at his mother’s funeral in Kisii on 15th May 2026.
Now all eyes have turned to Roselyn Akombe.
To most Kenyans, she is the woman who walked away from the IEBC in October 2017, days before Kenya’s repeat presidential election, flew to New York and said the commission could not guarantee a free and fair vote.
It was one of the most dramatic resignations in Kenya’s recent political history and made her a household name.
Since then, she has built a strong career at the United Nations, where she currently serves as Chief of Peacebuilding Strategy and Partnerships at the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs in New York. She is described on her official profile as a mother of two.
That this globally recognised, UN-based figure has been part of Senator Onyonka’s polygamous family without public knowledge is the detail many Kenyans are still processing.
Onyonka has previously spoken openly about being polygamous in interviews. What is new is the decision to name his wives publicly, and to do so at such a thing.
Mama Teresia, born on Christmas Day 1944, was remembered across the Gusii region as a devoted mother, a woman of faith, and a committed member of the Catholic Women’s Guild. Leaders including Simba Arati, Anthony Kibagendi, and Fred Matiang'i sent their condolences.
The funeral on 15th May is now carrying a weight far beyond grief.
Kenyans are waiting for one thing whether Roselyn Akombe will appear in Kisii on that day, and what she will say if she does.
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