Written by Linda Omondi
When life fell apart, one voice on the radio helped her believe again.
When Agnes Mwende a mother of three got married back in the year 1998, she believed she was marrying him forever. He was charming, stable, and everything she thought she wanted in a partner. Her partner being a police officer meant they moved from one place to another. Later they settled in Nairobi began building a life together filled with happiness, shared dreams, and plans for children. But behind the warmth of their home was a truth more chilling than anything
Agnes could have imagined. “I used to feel lucky,” she recalls. “Lucky to have a man who came home every night, who called me his world. He provided me with everything. I didn’t know I was sharing him with another.”
For eight years, she believed she was living a love story. Then one afternoon, two young strangers knocked on her door and everything changed.
They were polite, a little shy, and spoke with an unsettling familiarity. “We’re looking for our dad,” they said. “His name is Mr. …” It was her husband’s name.
At first, she thought it was a mistake. Maybe a distant relative, or a cruel joke. But something in their eyes their resemblance to the man she had married forced her to welcome them in and listen. Her husband was away on assignment. The truth, however, had just arrived at her doorstep.
When he returned days later, he didn’t even try to deny it. Yes, he said. He had another family. A woman. Two children. A life built parallel to hers, with the same surname, the same lies of love and loyalty. For eight long years, he had lived a double life.
“I cried until I couldn’t breathe,” she later said. “It wasn’t just the betrayal. It was the time. The years. The faith I gave him, blind and full.”
She left with nothing but her children and a heart shattered beyond recognition, she walked out and began the slow, agonizing process of rebuilding. But love or maybe it was hope, or habit has a strange way of pulling us back. Two years later, she returned.
“We came back as a family and had our third born before I realized the other woman was being mistreated”.
Agnes Mwende aka Agnes wa Illasit (in the middle) posing with Sifa FM Stations staff during Jamvi Mashinani event in Tarakea-Tanzania.
She wanted to believe people could change. She wanted to believe in second chances. And for a while, it seemed like they were a family again. She discovered that the other woman, the mother of the two children who had once come knocking was still in the picture. And worse, she was being mistreated. Used. Lied to. Just like she had been.
One evening, she sat her husband down. “I told him I would not be the reason another woman cried herself to sleep,” she said, her voice steady. “I had felt that pain. I couldn’t carry it and cause it too.” So, once again, she packed her bags. This time for good. But the second time was harder.
The weight of betrayal, the fear of the unknown, and the loneliness closed in like a storm. Bills piled up. Friends grew scarce. Nights were long. Her smile disappeared. For years she lived a lonely and painful life.
Then came a night. It was 3:00 AM. The world was asleep. She had bought the pills. Her plan was clear. “I was going to commit suicide,” she says. “I just didn’t want to hurt anymore.”
But just before the moment came, something whispered to her. Turn on the radio.
She reached out and switched it on. A gospel song filled the silence, at around 6.00am a devotional program was on, TTB Swahili popularly known as Neno Litaendelea. The speaker echoed everything she needed to hear but hadn’t dared to believe “I was listening to the program and felt like the preacher Pastor Munialo was speaking to me”. The program then faded into a woman’s voice the morning presenter her voice warm, steady, full of truth. “There is still hope. You are not forgotten. Your pain is not permanent.” That morning, the radio saved her life. It was Sifa FM Voi. She never swallowed the pills.
Instead, she wept. Not out of despair but because for the first time in a long time, she felt seen. Heard. Held. That radio station became her companion, her morning prayer, her late-night comfort.
“From that day I became a Sifa FM fan, calling in every morning, chatting and laughing with the radio presenter KK kitoto Kiafrika. Our laughter gave me hope and the strength to move on”
“I fell in love with the voice of hope,” she says. “I started living again, not because life got easier, but because I finally believed I could survive it.”
Today, she is raising her children with strength she never thought she had. She’s found joy in small things like her business, children, radio fans and sifa fm radio programs.
One such program is the late-night show Jamvi la Gumzo.
So, when Jamvi mashinani program was taken to Tarakea in Tanzania, Agnes was among the fans who attended. She not only attended but was a key player in planning and attending to guests.
Agnes with other participants during Jamvi mashinani engagement
“It was my first time attending jamvi mashinani. A great experience. I joined the single group and learnt a lot” In this group Agnes together with other singles learnt about waiting, keeping the Faith and living a fulfilling single life.“We were taught about believing in oneself, being fearless, believing in a second chance, being open honest and faithful even as you wait.”
“Through the teachings I now live a happy life with God at the center and do not feel lonely anymore”, She added. Her story is not just about betrayal. It’s not just about heartbreak. It’s about choosing to live when everything inside you wants to give up.
And when asked if she still believes in love? She smiles. “Yes,” she says. “But now, I begin with loving myself first and praying for a partner who is faithful and honest even without money”
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