By Kahawa Tungu
Kenyan born Australian senator Lucy Gichuhi has detailed her journey from a small time girl to a legislator in a foreign country in her new book titled “Behind The Smile: From the Slopes of Mount Kenya to Commonwealth Parliament of Australia”.
In the book, Ms Gichuhi tells how she has been a victim of domestic violence and infidelity from her husband of more than 30 years, William Gichuhi.
The senator who in 2018 was reported to be knee deep in debt recounts catching her husband in a rather compromising situation with one of her sisters.
The two were apparently having an affair right under her nose.
“I momentarily thought of smashing his head with a drink bottle but then I remembered that I am an Australian now and domestic violence law would catch up with me,” she says.
She also recalls some time in 1999 when her husband slapped her an later hurt himself after she inquired about a bill that needed to be settled.
“All hell broke loose, William did not say a single thing to me that whole week. He was furious…I asked him about a bill that needed to be paid. Suddenly, he charged at me like a raging bull and slapped me so hard across the face. He then hit the wardrobe with his hand and broke the mirror but hurt his hand, which started bleeding,” she continues.
Ms Gichuhi who is the first black African member of the federal parliament has noted that the book is meant to inspire young girls with big dreams and a story similar to hers.
“This (book) is about a girl becoming all she can be irrespective of circumstances, gender, color, culture, and creed,” she says.
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She first made headlines after she was said to have spent Ksh200,000 of the tax payers money to fly two of her family members for her ’50th plus GST’ birthday.
“Regarding the media reports about my travel expenses, this was an administrative error involving misunderstanding of travel rules. I’ve raised an invoice from the department to pay the costs of $2139 (approximately Ksh213,900) in full,” she tweeted.
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