NAIROBI, Kenya — Former Kenyan television news anchor Esther Adongo Arunga has formally renounced the surname Timberlake, asking the public to identify her by her original name, Esther Adongo Arunga.
A notice published in the Kenya Gazette on October 9, 2026, stated that she had “formally and absolutely renounced and abandoned” the name Esther Adongo Timberlake.
The notice, issued through her lawyers, asked all persons to “designate, describe and address her by her assumed name Esther Adongo Arunga only.”
The move reverses a name change she announced in March 2010, when she told a press conference in Nairobi that she had adopted the surname Timberlake after marrying Quincy Timberlake.
The notice does not state why she has decided to drop the surname.
From television fame to public controversy
Arunga was once among Kenya’s recognisable television news presenters, having worked at Capital FM and Kenya Television Network (KTN). She won the 2008 Chaguo la Teeniez Award for Best Teen TV Anchor and was admitted to the bar in Nairobi in 2009.
Her departure from mainstream broadcasting in 2010 followed her association with the Finger of God Church, founded by musician Joseph Hellon. That year, Arunga, Hellon and Quincy Timberlake announced plans to form the PlaCenta Party, after which she resigned from KTN.
The group attracted national attention following a police operation at a house in Nairobi’s Runda area linked to the church. Arunga was arrested alongside other members but was later released without being charged in that case, according to contemporaneous media reports.
She subsequently pursued legal action against her parents, police and media organisations over what she said were violations of her rights.
Arunga and Timberlake later moved to Australia, where they sought asylum.
Name change follows years of legal proceedings
The couple’s lives became the subject of further legal proceedings after the death of their three-year-old son, Sinclair, in Queensland, Australia, in June 2014.
Arunga initially told emergency responders that the child had fallen down the stairs. Investigators later established that his injuries were inconsistent with that account.
In 2019, Arunga pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 months in prison, with immediate release on parole.
In September 2023, Quincy Timberlake pleaded guilty to manslaughter after prosecutors withdrew the murder charge. An Australian court sentenced him to 11 years in prison, taking into account the time he had already spent in custody.
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Reports in 2026 said Timberlake had completed the custodial portion of his sentence but remained in Australian immigration detention following the cancellation of his visa.
The circumstances surrounding the family’s legal history have continued to attract public attention, although the latest Gazette notice does not link Arunga’s decision to renounce the surname to those proceedings.
Gazette notice lists Nairobi address
The latest notice lists Arunga’s address as being in Nairobi, Kenya. That detail raises the possibility that she may be back in the country, but the notice alone does not confirm her current whereabouts.
The document also identifies the lawyers acting for her only by the initials “LAK”.
The formal renunciation of the surname marks a change in how Arunga wishes to be identified in official and public records. Beyond that, she has not publicly explained the reasons for the decision in the information available.
For now, the Gazette notice establishes the name she has formally adopted: Esther Adongo Arunga.
