Deputy Presidential Debate: Martha Wangari Karua
Born in Kenya on September 22, 1957, Martha Wangari Karua is a High Court of Kenya advocate and a former member of parliament for the Gichugu Constituency. Prior to her resignation from that role in April 2009, she served as Minister of Justice.
Karua, following Charity Ngilu and Wangari Maathai in the 1997 elections, was the third woman to compete for the highest position when she did so in 2013 on the Narc-Kenya ticket. She came in sixth place. Following her nomination as Raila Odinga's running partner for the presidency in the Kenyan general election of 2022, she was chosen to compete for deputy president.
Early Life and Education:
Jackson Karua and Josephine Wanjiru are the parents of Martha. She was raised in the village of Kimunye in as the second child of eight—four girls and four boys—in a family of eight.
She was a student at St. Michael's Boarding School in Keruguya, Kabare Girls Boarding School, and Mugumo Primary School. She continued on to Kiburia Girls Secondary School, Ngiriambu Girls Secondary School, and Karoti Girls High School in Kirinyaga County, where she earned her East African School Certificate.
After that, she studied for her A levels at Nairobi Girl's secondary school. From 1977 to 1980, she attended the University of Nairobi to study law. She attended in the statutory postgraduate legal study at the Kenya School of Law between 1980 and 1981.
Legal Career:
1981 – 2002
Following graduation, Karua served as a magistrate from 1981 to 1987 in a number of courts, including those in Makadara, Nakuru, and Kibera, where he was praised for his keen judgment. She quit to open her own legal practice in 1987, which she maintained until 2002 under the name Martha Karua & Co. Advocates. The treason trials of Koigi Wamwere and Mirugi Kariuki, a Kenyan member of parliament, were among the cases. She protected a number of human rights advocates at the danger of being put on the Moi government's blacklist.
Political Career:
1990 – 2002
In the early 1990s, Karua participated in opposition political groups that successfully lobbied for the restoration of multi-party democracy in Kenya.
Karua joined the Ford-Asili group led by Kenneth Matiba. She withdrew from the party leadership elections in September 1992 because she believed they had been rigged, leaving only one opponent, Geoffrey Karekia Kairithi, to compete.
She joined the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP), where she won the Party nominations and ticket in November 1992. She then went on to defeat the incumbent Geoffrrey Karekia Kareithi in the election for Gichugu Member of Parliament in December 1992, relieving the constituents of Gichugu of the animosity between Kareithi and Nahashon Njuno. Karua was the first female attorney to be duly elected to Parliament and the MP for the Gichugu seat. In 1993, she won a position as the Democratic Party's secretary for legal affairs.
Karua renounced the job of Shadow Minister for Culture and Social Services in 1998 because it clashed with her elected position as National Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, which gave her the party's designated legal spokeswoman. She made the decision to leave her post as National Secretary for Legal and Constitutional Affairs.
When the Constitutional Review Bill was introduced in 2001, all members of the opposition—aside from Karua—left the chamber. The Bill had been rejected by both the Opposition and Civil Society, but Karua believed that as elected representatives, it would be wiser to stay in Parliament and record the objections rather than leave. She thus made the decision to stay in the House of Representatives, and her concerns about the Bill were fully documented.
2003 to 2009
She served as Minister of Justice, National Cohesion, and Constitutional Affairs from April 6, 2009, to April 6, 2009. She also previously held the position of Minister of Water Resources Management & Development. She was instrumental in bringing into effect the Water Act of 2002, which has subsequently sped up Kenya's water reforms and service delivery.
Following the contentious December 2007 election, Kibaki named Karua to the Cabinet on January 8, 2008, where he remained Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
While the government had anticipated that the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of Raila Odinga might be "planning mayhem if they lost," it was taken aback by "the magnitude" of it, Karua said in an interview with BBC's HARDtalk in January 2008, referring to the violence as "ethnic cleansing."
When asked to elaborate, Karua stated that she was "categorically" declaring that the ODM intended to carry out ethnic cleansing. Karua's accusation was later referred to as "outrageous" by Odinga. Karua oversaw the government's delegation during talks with the opposition on the post-election political crisis.
A power-sharing deal was finally signed by Kibaki and Odinga as a result of the political crisis. Karua kept her position as Minister of Justice, National Cohesion, and Constitutional Affairs in the grand coalition Cabinet that was unveiled on April 13, 2008.
On November 15, 2008, she received approval to serve as the political party's national chairman. At the party's national delegate convention at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, all of the officials, including Ms. Karua, were approved, therefore there was hardly any competitive voting. The moment she announced her support, she said she will run in Kenya's 2012 presidential election for the highest political position, that of president.
On April 6, 2009, Karua announced her resignation as minister of justice and constitutional affairs, citing difficulties with her work. Her annoyance was evident when, only a few days before her resignation, President MwaiKibaki nominated judges without consulting her. Since 2003, she was the first minister to voluntarily quit.
2013 to Present
Karua ran for president of Kenya in 2013 on the NARC Kenya party ticket. In a closely contested race, she received 43,881 votes and finished sixth.
In the 2017 general election, Martha Karua will return to Kenya's political landscape and run for a seat as governor of Kirinyaga County. In a hotly contested election, she came in second behind the incumbent Governor Anne Waiguru with 122,091 votes to Ms. Waiguru's 161,373 votes.
Karua challenged the results of the election, claiming that there had been anomalies. He then petitioned the High Court to declare Waiguru the winner, but his case was denied by the High Court, Court of Appeal, and eventually the Supreme Court. Karua then went on to submit a petition with the East African Court of Justice, accusing the Kenyan government of failing to administer justice in the suit due to its judicial arm.
In December 2015, Karua acknowledged receiving a Kshs 2,000,000 "gift" from British American Tobacco toward the expenditures of her presidential campaign. Karua stated that she believed Paul Hopkins' donation, a BAT employee, was a one-time gift.
Karua's campaign manager Mary M'Mukindia received payment on her behalf. With the exception of this instance of an alleged contribution of contaminated money, Karua has a reputation for being free of corruption. No guilt has been established, and Paul Hopkins was not charged following the British investigations. Karua argues that she is impervious to corruption and has welcomed Kenyan authorities to look into any potential wrongdoing.
A group of leaders from Central Kenya unanimously chose Senior Counsel Martha Karua on September 20, 2021, to serve as the Interim Mount Kenya Unity Forum Spokesperson. Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria stated, "We have picked Martha Karua to be our official convener and our spokeswoman.
Awards and Recognition:
- Human Rights Watch designated Karua as a human rights observer in 1991.
- Martha received a prize in December 1995 from the Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers (F.I.D.A) for championing women's rights.
- Karua received the 1999 Kenya Jurist of the Year Award from the Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurists in 1999, and the Legal Practitioners Due Diligence Award from the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) in the same year and same month.
Bills To Parliament:
- The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill -2008.
- Constitution of Kenya Review Bill – 2008.
- The National Ethic and Race Relations Bill – 1st July 2008.
- Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Bill – 23rd October 2008.
Common Phrases: Harro, Asmioo, Ata Wewe Jiulizeee, Liberation, Hatucheki Masaa ya Kazi, Tumewapigania Miaka Yetu Yote.
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