Politician with knack for taking on the powerful
By Eric Wainaina, August 13, 2019She never shies away from saying and doing whatever she believes in, even if it means taking on her political seniors.
Martha Karua, a lawyer and veteran politician who served as Gichugu MP for two decades, did just that on Sunday night by taking head-on Kenya’s top leaders at the K24’s PunchLine programme.
“If standing on my principles amounts to being rigid or stubborn, then I am as stubborn as they come,” the Narc Kenya leader said in response to accusations that she was not a team player.
In June 2001, Karua, then an Opposition MP, walked out on then President Moi during a funds drive in Kirinyaga after she was denied an opportunity to respond to criticism by Kanu politicians. Karua stormed out of the meeting as Moi rose to speak.
That was the second time she was walking out on Moi, having first done so in 1997 when she was denied a chance to speak in her constituency.
Born in Kirinyaga in 1957, Karua became a powerful minister in Mwai Kibaki’s administration.
And following the disputed 2007 election, she became the face of Kibaki’s defence.
Her boldness saw some describe her as “the only man” in Kibaki’s government.
When former UN chief Kofi Anan brokered a deal which gave birth to the Grand Coalition Government, Karua was appointed Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister.
Slightly over a year later, she resigned from the position, citing frustrations in discharging her duties. Her exit saw her open battlefronts with her former allies in government.
The first duel was in 2009 in the Juja and Makadara by-elections where she backed flamboyant politicians William Kabogo and Mike Sonko, both who won the seats on Narc Kenya tickets.
Kibaki, and the then Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, were backing George Thuo in Juja and Dick Wathika in Makadara.
The campaigns were viewed as a litmus test for Uhuru, who was being groomed to succeed Kibaki, and Karua who had already declared her presidential bid.
In 2013 she staged a presidential bid viewed by critics as betrayal of her community. Karua was expected to back Uhuru but she stood her ground.
Although she supported Uhuru’s re-election in 2017, she refused to join Jubilee, opting to contest the Kirinyaga governor seat on Narc Kenya ticket but lost to Anne Waiguru.