Prof. Lukoye Atwoli, the eldest son of COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli, has shared the touching story of how he met and fell in love with his late wife, Maureen Nyadida Lukoye, who passed away after a battle with cancer.
In an article shared by Parents Magazine, Maureen, before settling into married life, had carved out a career of her own.
She enjoyed an internship working alongside scientists during her university years before landing a role at an audit firm in Westlands, a job she held when she first crossed paths with Lukoye.
How Lukoye Atwoli met Maureen Nyadida
The couple’s love story began at a mutual friend’s wedding in Nakuru in 2001. Lukoye was on the groom’s side, responsible for keeping the day on schedule, while Maureen coordinated the bridesmaids.
The groom gave them each other’s contacts to help the day run smoothly.
“She was my mole. She was supposed to update me on the activities from the bridal side to ensure smooth operations, such as being picked up at the right time. The groom gave us each other’s numbers for ease of communication and coordination,” Lukoye recalled.
What started as a logistical back-and-forth gradually warmed into a genuine connection by the time the evening reception came around.
In a twist, Maureen had actually been introduced to another man at the same event whom she mistakenly assumed was Lukoye, a mix-up she did not bother to sort out until later.
It was only mid-conversation with the real Lukoye that Maureen connected the surname she kept hearing his friends use to the well-known trade unionist she had seen on television.
From international calls to a marriage proposal
After the wedding, Lukoye kept the calls coming, no small gesture at a time when international calls were expensive and time-consuming.
His persistence, combined with a personality that matched her own, slowly won Maureen over.
Lukoye admits he was already certain about her from their very first date.
“I just sat there and wondered how courageous he was. I did not take it seriously because, again, he was a man and men talk, if you know what I mean,” Maureen said, laughing when recounting the moment.
When the relationship grew more serious, Maureen introduced Lukoye to her brothers, anxious about how they would receive him given their attachment to her previous boyfriend.
They took to him warmly. Her father, who was abroad at the time, received a direct phone call from Lukoye himself.
“He told my dad on a phone call that he wanted to marry me,” she said.
The couple formalised their union with a church wedding in 2003, roughly a year after they had begun living together.
Reflecting on over sixteen years of marriage, they both credited open communication as the foundation of their relationship, talking through disagreements rather than allowing resentment to grow.
How Lukoye mourned Maureen
The renowned psychiatrist recently paid tribute to Maureen in an emotional written message following her death from cancer.
He pointed out how things will change as he questioned how he would nlive life without his lifetime partner.
