Former News Anchor Esther Arunga./FILEFormer news anchor Esther Arunga has formally dropped the surname Timberlake, 16 years after adopting it following her marriage to Quincy Timberlake.
A notice published in the Kenya Gazette on October 9, 2026, confirms that she has reverted to her former name, Esther Adongo Arunga. The notice directs that she should henceforth be identified and addressed by that name.
The development marks a reversal of a decision Arunga announced publicly in March 2010, when she said she had changed her name after exchanging vows with Timberlake.
The notice does not explain why she has abandoned the surname. Although it lists a Nairobi address, it does not independently confirm whether she has returned to Kenya.
Arunga was once a familiar face on Kenyan television, having worked at Capital FM and KTN. In 2008, she won the Chaguo la Teeniez Award for Best Teen TV Anchor. She was also admitted to the bar in Nairobi in 2009.
Her public profile changed in 2009 after she joined the Finger of God Church, founded by musician Joseph Hellon.
In February 2010, Arunga, Hellon and Timberlake announced plans to form the PlaCenta Party. Arunga resigned from KTN on the same day, drawing further attention to her association with the religious movement.
The couple later moved to Australia, where they became embroiled in a criminal case following the death of their three-year-old son, Sinclair, in June 2014.
Arunga pleaded guilty in 2019 to being an accessory to the offence and was sentenced to 10 months in prison before being released on parole.
Timberlake pleaded guilty to manslaughter in September 2023 after prosecutors dropped the murder charge. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, with the court taking into account his mental health condition and time already spent in custody.
Reports in June 2026 indicated that he had completed the custodial portion of his sentence but remained in immigration detention.
The latest legal notice restores the name Arunga used before adopting her husband's surname. It does not establish whether the change reflects a shift in her marital circumstances or signals plans to return to public life.
