Former Citizen TV news anchor Janet Mbugua has taken aim at gospel singer Mercy Masika after the latter announced plans to host a marriage masterclass exclusively for women.
Mercy Masika’s upcoming session, themed “Becoming a wife for every woman who believes that marriage should not be miserable,” drew immediate backlash online, particularly from women questioning the message behind it.
Mbugua joined the conversation through a selfie-style video posted on her TikTok page @officialjanetmbugua, captioned:
”A masterclass on marriage, but mute on the violence and injustice around us?” In the passionate clip recorded at her home, she laid out three reasons she believes the criticism is justified.
Her first concern centred on context. She pointed to the scale of crises currently gripping Kenya, including daily femicide cases, over 200,000 teenage pregnancies, widespread defilement cases, and the deaths and disappearances of young people following the Reject Finance Bill protests.
”All of these stories make headlines, if not every day, at least every week. That’s what people are concerned about right now,” she said.
Her second charge was directed at the church. Mbugua, who described herself as someone who grew up in the church, said religious institutions have been largely silent on extrajudicial killings and femicide, noting that even the Catholic Church only began addressing these issues recently.
She made clear that raising questions about this silence is not a sign of rebellion.
”Having questions is not demonic or rebellion. It’s having genuine questions,” she said.
The third point she raised questioned why women are consistently handed the responsibility of rescuing marriages.
She challenged the absence of equivalent guidance for men and criticised teachings in certain denominations that encourage women to “vumilia” rather than seek separation, divorce, or proper counselling.
”In some denominations, it’s almost not an option to talk about separation or divorce or even counseling. Or the counseling is… maybe you as the woman are just asking too many questions,” she said.
Mbugua was also quick to dismiss the predictable counter-narrative. She acknowledged that critics of the masterclass would likely be labelled bitter divorced women who oppose marriage, but maintained the pushback is grounded in something far more serious.
She closed her remarks by calling for a different national conversation altogether.
”A woman alone cannot save a marriage. It takes two. And right now, the masterclass should be how we can have a better, safer country and world where there’s equity, where there’s safety for men and women, where children are safe… The pushback is valid,” she said.
She also floated the idea of redirecting church funds towards social halls where young people could develop business skills. Mercy Masika is yet to respond to the criticism.
