Isaac Mugo remembers September 2015 like the day he was born. On the fateful evening, Mugo sat at his office desk eagerly waiting to hand his resignation letter to his boss, a decision that left him jobless for over seven years.
The decision to resign from his high-paying job was influenced by unending fights with his wife, which spilled over to his office, evidenced by his reduced work performance.
According to his narration in the Nation newspaper, things got out of hand in 2014 when his wife popped into his workplace insisting on speaking to his boss.
“I was walking back to the office after the lunch break. The security guard stopped me, and I excused myself from the colleagues whom we had gone for lunch with. He informed me that there were two ladies at the reception who were demanding to see HR,’’
“I began explaining to him that I was in no position to book an appointment with HR as I worked in a different department, but he interjected. The guard went on to inform me that one of them said she is my wife,’’ recalled Mugo.
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Full of thoughts on what had happened to cause his wife and her sister to come to the office in the middle of the day, Mugo ignored them and decided to deal with the issue once he got home.
He would later get summoned by the boss, asking him about his performance at work which had gone down in the last couple of days.
“Before my wife showed up at my workplace, we had had a couple of disagreements over the past few months. This had thrown me off my game and affected my efficiency at work.
“I was glad my boss was asking about my dismal performance and not the drama I had dealt with a few minutes ago,’’ he said.
Mugo would later receive a call from the HR Director, who informed him that his wife requested for his monthly pay to be channeled to her account.
Informing him that the company’s policy couldn’t allow his wife’s demands, the Director further informed Mugo of the accusations leveled against him by his wife.
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“I had been accused of neglecting the family and having sexual affairs at the office. I was also faulted for failing to collect medical insurance ecard for one of our kids. Lastly, I was accused of going home late in the pretence of working long hours,’’ he recalled.
His life at the workplace felt uncomfortable as all his colleagues, including security guards, were gossiping about him. His performance further fell below average.
With fears of facing office suspension or demotion, Mugo decided to quit his job, a plan he executed one and a half years later, for peace-at-home sake.
“I thought to myself, this career is what led to quarrels at home, so I will quit and get a less demanding job. I will spend more time at home, and there will be peace.’’
“So, unlike many professionals who quit jobs for greener pastures or to start businesses, I quit to restore peace in our home,’’ added Mugo.
Three months after, his financial well-being worsened to the point that he couldn’t afford their lifestyle anymore.
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Efforts to secure another job bore no fruits, and he was forced to relocate to a cheaper house and transfer his kids to a more pocket-friendly school. One year later, Mugo couldn’t afford house rent anymore, pushing him back to the village
“It didn’t take long for the marriage to end. Things were hard, and one day I came home to an empty house. What hit me most was that I had lost my family after giving up my job. I was now back to square one,’’ he said.
Mugo regretted not seeing a counselor after the office incident, as he would have got better advice than just quitting his only source of income.
