Karua recounts drama of chasing police car after Gitobu Imanyara’s abduction
By Mabonga Makhanu, August 16, 2025PLP party leader Martha Karua has revisited a dramatic moment in her political journey, recalling how she once gave chase to a police car that had taken away human rights lawyer and politician Gitobu Imanyara.
In her reflection shared on Saturday, August 16, 2025, Karua described the incident as one of the defining moments that pushed her to act out of courage and instinct.
According to her recollection, Imanyara had been unlawfully arrested, and in a bold move, she quickly picked up car keys from his wife and sped off after the police vehicle. She noted that she did not wait to ask for company, driven only by the urgency of the moment.
Karua explained that during the pursuit, she matched the police car move for move, even running traffic lights in her determination to ensure Imanyara’s safety.
The chase ended at Kileleshwa Police Station, where she arrived almost simultaneously with the officers. She described the act as an instinctive decision made at a time when silence in the face of injustice could easily cost lives.
“The day I refused to be a bystander. My friend, Gitobu Imanyara, was unlawfully arrested, and I chased down the police car that had taken him. I did it out of my instinct to protect him in a time when lives could be lost in silence. Years later, the faces have changed, but the injustice remains,” Martha Karua stated.
The veteran politician, now leading the newly rebranded Party of Liberation Party (PLP), used the memory to draw parallels between the past and the present.
She noted that decades later, unlawful abductions and intimidation are still part of the political landscape in Kenya, with young people bearing the brunt of state harassment.
Past struggles by young lawyers
Karua pointed out that while past struggles by young lawyers and activists managed to achieve certain victories, they were not enough to dismantle the wider system of fear and abuse of power.
She stressed that the same cycles of intimidation and suppression continue to be witnessed under the current regime, with leaders prioritising personal interests over the welfare of citizens.
“Unlawful abductions and intimidation of our youth are still happening under this regime. As young lawyers and Kenyans back then, we raised our voices and made some wins, but not enough to end this cycle. Why are we still here? We have put leaders in place who exploit fear, abuse power, and place personal interests above the lives of citizens,” she added.