Matata’s Marcus Ojiambo revealed his first relationship was with Ruth Kamande, the woman who was sentenced to life imprisonment for stabbing her boyfriend, Farid Mohamed Halim, 25 times in 2015.

In an interview with Iko Nini Podcast, Marcus said a part of him believes Ruth is innocent based on how he knows her personally.

“There is a part of me yenye ina mwamini in a way because of how I know her as a person. Maybe ni venye I do not know the other side. But for me, I believe her story as a person,” Marcus said.

Although Marcus said he believes Ruth’s version of events, he added that no one has the right to take another person’s life, regardless of what they have been through.

“Naeza sema tu like no matter what kitu mtu anakufanyia, no one has the right to take someone’s life at the end of the day.”

Ruth Kamande is serving life imprisonment for stabbing her boyfriend on September 20, 2015.

Ruth argued in court that the murder was a result of self-defense after coming to believe that her partner, Farid Mohamed Halim, had tried to infect her with HIV.

However, Justice Jessie Lessit dismissed her claim, saying the stab wounds were not consistent with Ruth’s allegations that her victim had pinned her down as they fought, noting that post-mortem examinations showed his injuries were inflicted at intervals and not by a person lying down.

The judge also accused Ruth of ‘manipulative’ behavior, including inflicting minor stab wounds on herself and accessing the victim’s mobile phone after his death, and was therefore sentenced to death.

In July 2023, Ruth was one of the death-row convicts whose sentence was moved to life imprisonment by President William Ruto.