Esther Arunga drops Timberlake surname 16 years after adopting it

Former TV news anchor Esther Adongo Arunga, who has formally dropped the surname Timberlake and reverted to her former name, 16 years after adopting it following her marriage to Quincy Timberlake. (Photo: Courtesy)

Former TV news anchor Esther Adongo Arunga has formally dropped the surname Timberlake, 16 years after adopting it following her marriage to Quincy Timberlake.

Her name change comes years after her life attracted widespread attention in Kenya and Australia, including her involvement in a criminal case linked to the death of her three-year-old son, Sinclair, in 2014.

In a Gazette notice dated October 9, 2026, her lawyers stated, “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.”

“All persons at all times [should] designate, describe and address her by her assumed name Esther Adongo Arunga only.”

The notice does not explain why Arunga has abandoned the surname. However, it reverses the decision she announced in March 2010, when she told a press conference in Nairobi that she had changed her name after exchanging vows with Timberlake.

The notice lists her address as Nairobi, Kenya, raising questions about whether she has returned to the country. However, it does not confirm her current whereabouts. Her advocates are identified only as “LAK”.

Before her life became the subject of public controversy, Arunga was a familiar face on Kenyan television. An alumna of Kenya High School, she worked at Capital FM and KTN, won the 2008 Chaguo la Teeniez Award for Best Teen TV Anchor and was admitted to the bar in Nairobi in 2009.

Her life took a different turn in 2009 when she joined the Finger of God Church, founded by jazz musician Joseph Hellon.

In February 2010, Arunga, Hellon and Timberlake announced the formation of the PlaCenta Party. She resigned from KTN on the same day.

That night, police raided a house in Nairobi’s Runda area linked to the church. Hellon was charged with running an illegal society but was released after spending a week in custody.

Arunga said she had been handed over to her parents without charge. She later sued her parents, Dr Robert Arunga and Petoline Arunga, as well as the police and media houses, seeking damages and court orders to prevent her parents from interfering with her freedom.

Arunga and Timberlake later moved to Australia, where they sought asylum. Their lives came under further scrutiny following the death of their son, Sinclair, in June 2014.

Shortly before 2:00 am on June 18, 2014, Arunga called emergency services from their home north of Brisbane, reporting that the boy had fallen down the stairs. An autopsy later found that Sinclair died from severe blunt-force injuries inconsistent with a fall.

In 2019, Arunga pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the offence and was sentenced to 10 months in prison before being immediately released on parole.

Court proceedings heard that she had diverted attention from her husband for almost a month before telling police she had found him hitting the boy in the stomach.

She reported that Timberlake had said, “There’s a devil in his stomach; I have to get it out.”

In September 2023, Timberlake pleaded guilty to manslaughter after prosecutors dropped the murder charge.

Justice Paul Freeburn described the boy’s death as “brutal and incomprehensible” and sentenced Timberlake to 11 years in prison.

The court heard that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis and had diminished responsibility at the time of the offence.

The judge also considered the more than nine years Timberlake had already spent in pre-sentence custody, meaning he could spend a maximum of two additional years behind bars.

Reports in June 2026 indicated that Timberlake had completed the custodial part of his sentence but remained in immigration detention.

Arunga’s latest name change formally restores the identity she used before adopting her husband’s surname. However, the notice does not state whether the decision is linked to her marital circumstances, a possible return to Kenya or plans to resume public life.