Esther Adongo Arunga, also known as Esther Timberlake, is a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and solicitor and former television and radio presenter from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, who now resides in Australia. She is married to Quincy Timberlake and is a co-founder with him of the PlaCenta Party (Platinum Centralizer and Unionist Party of Kenya).

Early life and education

Esther Arunga has a twin brother and six other siblings. She was raised Seventh-day Adventist."Esther Arunga Timberlake pregnant and loving it"
''Salon Magazine'', October 2010. She was educated at

Kenya High School The Kenya High School is a public girls' high school located on Mandera Road in the upmarket Kileleshwa suburb of Westlands Sub-County in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi. The school, which follows the national curriculum, is one of Kenya's 112 na ...

, earned Bachelor's degrees in communication and law from the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, returned to Kenya for a one-year degree course at the Kenya School of Law and was admitted to the bar in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

in 2009.

Broadcasting

She worked as an announcer and journalist at

98.4 Capital FM 98.4 Capital FM (other variations of the name include Capital FM and Capital FM Kenya) is a Kenyan urban music radio station. Location Its offices are situated on the 19th floor of ''Lonrho House'', along Standard Street in the central busin ...

in Nairobi and for the

Kenya Television Network Kenya Television Network (KTN) is a Kenyan free-to-air television network that was launched in March 1990 by Jared Kangwana. It is headquartered at Standard Group Centre, Nairobi. It was the first free-to-air privately owned television network ...

. She won the 2008 CHAT Award for best Teen TV Anchor/Presenter.

Church, politics and marriage

In 2009 Arunga joined the Finger of God Church started by

Joseph Hellon Nimrod Joseph Onyango Omondi Hellon (born 20 May 1977) is a Kenyan jazz musician, head of the Finger of God Church, and co-founder of the Placenta Party. Hellon was the fifth of nine children of poor sugarcane farmers, and was raised in Migori. By ...

, a distant relative.Shirley Genga
"Hellon shares on life's ups and down"
''The Standard'', 6 April 2013. She became engaged to Wilson Malaba, an elder of the church, but in early 2010 called off the engagement and moved out of her parents' house to live in a church-owned mansion with Hellon and a number of other church members. She has since said that her parents wanted to marry her to a politician in the government.Stevens Muendo
"Season 2 of Esther Arunga saga"
''The Standard'', 6 July 2012, p. 2. That February, she, Hellon, and Quincy Timberlake announced the formation of the PlaCenta Party (Platinum Centralizer and Unionist Party) of Kenya and Hellon's candidacy for the presidency and Arunga's for the seat of

Karachuonyo Constituency Karachuonyo Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of eight constituencies in Homa Bay County Homa Bay County is a county in the former Nyanza Province of Kenya. Its capital and largest town is Homa Bay. The county has a ...

and the deputy presidency. Arunga resigned from her job as a news anchor at Kenya Television Network the same day. That night, a number of people associated with the church, including Arunga and Hellon, were arrested and charged with running an unregistered association, although the church had been registered five years before. Computers and laptops were destroyed, documents confiscated and vehicles impounded. She and Timberlake both say they were isolated and tortured. She announced lawsuits against her parents, psychiatrist Dr. Frank Njenga, the Attorney General and the Kenya Police for wrongful imprisonment and torture."Esther Arunga weds Quincy Timberlake"
Capital, 4 March 2010. Arunga was released after two days and on 3 March 2010 married Quincy Timberlake while he was still in custody; however, she has since stated that Hellon performed the ceremony at another time.

Australia

Feeling unsafe,David Odongo
"Arunga blames parents for a rocky start in marriage"
''The Nairobean'', 24 January 2014. the Timberlakes left Kenya, and by way of

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

went to Australia, where , she is a barrister at the New South Wales Supreme Court and has acquired citizenship. She has announced that she will run for office in Kenya, and that she would be accepting an offer from

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

to co-host a features show. In June 2014, the elder of the couple's two sons died after an apparent accident at their home. In September of that year her husband was charged with the murder of the child, to which he subsequently pleaded not guilty in court. Esther Timberlake was later charged as an accessory and was released on bail. She gave new evidence that her husband had used a healing techniques on the boy and had pressed his stomach repeatedly and thrown him against a wall. She is reported to have changed her name to Chryslertte Provydence Timberlake. In 2016 she was reported to have been working somewhere in Australia.Kwarula Otieno
"Finger Of God Pastor Quincy Timberlake Admitted To Mental Hospital After Assaulting Former TV Queen Esther Arunga"
''The Star'', 19 April 2016.On 18 July 2019, she was given a 10 month sentence with a parole for being an accessory to her son's death in 2014 allegedly committed by her husband, Quincy Timberlake.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arunga, Esther Living people Kenyan television journalists Kenyan women television journalists Kenyan radio journalists Kenyan women radio journalists Kenyan radio presenters Kenyan women radio presenters Kenyan women television presenters Kenyan television presenters Year of birth missing (living people) University of Wollongong alumni Kenya School of Law alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Kenya High School