A wedding was briefly stopped on Sunday when a woman claiming to be the man’s wife showed up.

Ms Loise Wanja arrived at the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church, Nakuru, early and informed the priest that the groom, Mr Samuel Gichuki, was her husband.

Trouble started as soon as the bridal party entered the church and Ms Wanja moved to the front and stood next to the groom.

For some time the groom was sandwiched between Ms Wanja and the bride, Ms Joyce Mukami Njoroge.

Ms Wanja refused to allow the two to take the marriage vows, prompting the priest to introduce her to the church.

He told the congregants that Ms Wanja had informed him that she was Mr Gichuki’s wife, and even showed him family photos.

He, however, added that she did not have documents to prove that she was the legal wife and neither did she produce a court order stopping the wedding.

“I have a notice from the registrar of marriages and nothing legally bars me from uniting the two,” said the priest.

He said Mr Gichuki and Ms Njoroge notified the government office of their impending wedding on May 13 and got the notice of marriage three days later.

“The church has been announcing the wedding since May 31 and it is not fair for anyone to appear on the wedding day to stop it,” he said.

ATTEMPTED TO CHEW

Sensing that she could not stop the ceremony, Ms Wanja began wailing.

She then grabbed the notice of marriage, tore it and attempted to chew it. At that point, she was ejected from the church.

Ms Wanja said she was living on Mr Gichuki’s property with their two sons aged 18 and 16.

She wondered how the church could have allowed the wedding to go on yet “there is proof that I am his wife”.