Is this Esther's Hell On Earth?

When Esther Arunga walked into the press conference room on Thursday to set the record straight, she was a new woman.

The humble and sweet face that united Kenyans in loving her was gone and, in its place, was a blank stare. The sweet voice that wooed us all to watch the news religiously was no more. A more aggressive, almost combatant voice, had taken residence instead.

She wore a look that loudly exclaimed: “Good girl gone”.

For someone who viciously protected her private life, Esther Arunga was sparing no words to express her disappointment with what she described as ‘‘stupid journalism’’ and garbage reporting.

Full of contempt, Arunga, dressed in all black, could not explain why she chose to live with a married man in his house while she could afford to live comfortably on her own.

“I am almost 30 and I can live wherever I want,” she said spinning her neck.

Some questions she did not even have to answer. “That’s a stupid question,’’ she shot back.

The irony was that one of the most notable faces on television was talking trash about the media in general which she was a part of until a week ago and quit because “I wasn’t being paid enough.”

But she contradicted herself severally, telling the media that she quit because of a low salary but later saying she will sue the media but not for financial gain. 

“You can keep your money,” she yelled.

Nobody knows how much money she is making by being the director of Hellon’s music company which handles all of his live performances to make her quit her job.

But, once in a while, the girl that Kenyans came to love would jump from behind the stern look and smile or say something but this would be hurled back to where it came from.

As Hellon talked, she agreed to every word he said while his wife was seated next to him silent only smiling occasionally.

The moment of the week came when she went hard on her ex-fiancé, Wilson Malaba, whom she accused of cheating on her and not having his finances in order.

Two cancelled wedding ceremonies in one year. Arunga said her first wedding was affected by long distance and, of course, the most recent one was because of infidelity. She called off both weddings.

Asked whether it was true Hellon had, through his spiritual dad in the US (said to be Benny Hinn) given her someone to love, she said “Not true” and changed the subject.

As for Hellon, he was not offended by all the negative publicity about his church or dealings with Arunga. He said the media had helped him launch his political career.

“No news is bad news,” he told a packed press conference and in what can only be said to be a brilliant way to divert all the attention, he decided to announce his candidature for the 2012 presidency with Esther as his running mate.