NAIROBI, Kenya – Former KTN news anchor Esther Arunga has formally dropped the surname Timberlake, reverting to Esther Adongo Arunga, 16 years after adopting her husband Quincy Timberlake’s name.
A notice published in the Kenya Gazette on October 9, 2026, confirms that Arunga has renounced her former name and directs the public to identify and address her by her restored name.
Her lawyers stated in the notice: “Our client, Esther Adongo Arunga… formerly known as Esther Adongo Timberlake, formally and absolutely renounced and abandoned the use of her former name Esther Adongo Timberlake.”
The notice further directs that all persons should “designate, describe and address her by her assumed name Esther Adongo Arunga only.”
The document formalises a reversal of the name change Arunga announced publicly in March 2010, when she said she had adopted Timberlake’s surname after exchanging vows with him.
Arunga’s name change follows years of controversy
Before her relationship with Timberlake attracted national attention, Arunga had built a career in Kenyan broadcasting.
She worked at Capital FM and KTN, becoming a familiar face to television audiences. In 2008, she won the Chaguo la Teeniez Award for Best Teen TV Anchor. She also gained admission to the bar in Nairobi in 2009.
Her career took a dramatic turn in 2009 when 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 widespread attention to her association with the religious movement.
Police later raided a house in Nairobi’s Runda area linked to the church. Hellon faced charges relating to operating an illegal society but was released after spending a week in custody.
Arunga, who said authorities had handed her over to her parents without charging her, later sued her parents, police and media organisations. She sought damages and orders to prevent her parents from interfering with her freedom.
In March 2010, she publicly announced that she had changed her name from Esther Adongo Arunga to Esther Adongo Timberlake following her marriage.
The October 2026 Gazette notice now formally reverses that decision.
The Australian case that changed the family’s life
Arunga and Timberlake later moved to Australia, where their lives became the subject of a criminal investigation following the death of their three-year-old son, Sinclair, in June 2014.
Arunga called emergency services from their home north of Brisbane shortly before 2am on June 18, reporting that the child had fallen down the stairs.
An autopsy found that Sinclair had died from severe blunt-force injuries inconsistent with the reported fall.
In 2019, Arunga pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in the case. An Australian court sentenced her to 10 months in prison, but she was immediately released on parole.
Court proceedings established that she had initially misled investigators about the circumstances surrounding her son’s injuries. She later told police that she had seen Timberlake striking the child.
According to the account reported in court, Timberlake believed a devil was inside the boy and needed to be removed.
In September 2023, Timberlake pleaded guilty to manslaughter after prosecutors dropped the murder charge.
Justice Paul Freeburn described Sinclair’s death as “brutal and incomprehensible” before sentencing Timberlake to 11 years in prison.
The court considered evidence of Timberlake’s schizophrenia and psychosis, as well as his diminished responsibility at the time of the offence. It also credited him for more than nine years already spent in pre-sentence custody, limiting the additional time he could serve in prison.
As of June 2026 Timberlake had completed the custodial portion of his sentence but remained in Australian immigration detention.
