I used pepper spray: Woman who ‘assaulted’ Joyce Wa Mama speaks out

A woman called Katerina Murigi, who allegedly assaulted popular Kikuyu Benga singer Joyce Wa Mama, has shared her side of the story.

Katerina claims that the truth has been twisted for the sake of publicity.

Speaking to Nairobi News, the professional cake baker said her reputation was ruined by what she called lies spread on social media and this has undermined her business.

“It was a lie because at first, they said it was an acid attack, and then later in a recent interview … they said it was pepper spray,” Katerina said.

“So how it has turned from an acid attack to pepper spray is not adding up, but they have spoilt my name, and they have spoilt my brand’s name.”

She said she wanted to set the record straight. “They assaulted me, actually I have injuries from being assaulted by Wa Mama’s guys. I was doing that for self-defence after the guys had attacked me and taken my phone.”

Snatched her phone

She said the men, believed to be Wa Mama’s bodyguards, snatched her phone from her in an attempt to delete proof of her conversation with Kikuyu singer Wanja Asali.

“I told them that I was not going to leave the place without my phone, which I believe they had taken to delete the conversations we had with Wanja Asali,” she said.

She added that she “had talked to Wanja and she confirmed she was seated there, and I was going to join them and I did not even know Joyce was there at the VIP lounge”.

She said she used pepper spray in self-defence after the unidentified men assaulted her.

“I was not going to meet Joyce, and I had nothing to do with Joyce. I was going to see Wanja but after the guys [with them] roughed me up … I used my pepper spray to demand my phone and stop them from assaulting me.”

She went on: “I did not make Joyce Wa Mama’s cake; I had made it for another client at a club close to the one Joyce was at.

“So after my client’s party was over, and Wanja was performing there, I asked Wanja if she was heading home because we knew each other and had met a couple of times before.”

Wanja told her she was heading to Wa Mama’s party.

Katerina then left Mayors Resort to join Wanja at the party.

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“When I got there, I called her and asked her where she was seated and she directed me to the VIP lounge. I went and sat at a table next to hers because it was empty.”

She claimed “two or three” men started harassing her, saying that they didn’t know her.

She told them she had been invited by Wanja and pulled out her phone to show them the proof.

“The moment I showed them the call logs, they snatched the phone and I think they wanted to delete the call logs so that there isn’t any evidence that I was speaking to Wanja,” she said.

“The manager and the bouncers knew me so they came to defend me. By that time, I had already been beaten up.”

Katerina added that all the while, Wanja acted like she did not know her and watched as she was roughed up by Wa Mama’s men.

“All this time, Wanja was just seated there and pretended like she had not even talked to me,” she said.

As she walked out, one of the men grabbed her, prompting her to get her pepper spray. “Joyce was not anywhere close,” she said.

Katerina said she and Wanja met back in May and the latter suggested they exchange contacts for possible business in the future.

“I had baked a cake for another musician and when she saw me, she asked if I was the one who baked the cake and I told her yes,” she said.

“She asked if we could exchange contacts just in case she might want to order a cake in the future.”

Katerina said the two subsequently met about four times at different events, “maybe when she was performing or at birthday celebrations, because musicians hire me a lot to bake them cakes”.

This story was first published on Nairobi News.