Martha Wangari Karua (born 22 September 1957) is a
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
n politician. She is a Member of Parliament for
Gichugu ConstituencyGichugu Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of four constituencies in Kirinyaga District, Central Province. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. Between 1966 and 1983 elections it was known as Kirinyaga East Constituency.- Members of Parliament :-...
and an Advocate of the High Court of
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
. She was Minister of Justice until resigning from that position in April 2009.
Karua was born in
Kirinyaga DistrictKirinyaga District is an administrative district in the Central Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kerugoya. The district has a population of 457,105 and an area of 1,478 km² .The district has four constituencies:*Mwea Constituency...
,
Central ProvinceKenya's Central Province covers the area around its capital city, Nyeri, to southwest of Mt. Kenya . It is the ancestral home of, among others, the g.e.m.a. communities...
of Kenya; she was the second born in a family of eight siblings, four girls and four boys. She studied law at the
University of NairobiThe University of Nairobi is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in...
from 1977 to 1980.
Martha Wangari Karua (born 22 September 1957) is a
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
n politician. She is a Member of Parliament for
Gichugu ConstituencyGichugu Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of four constituencies in Kirinyaga District, Central Province. The constituency was established for the 1963 elections. Between 1966 and 1983 elections it was known as Kirinyaga East Constituency.- Members of Parliament :-...
and an Advocate of the High Court of
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
. She was Minister of Justice until resigning from that position in April 2009.
Early years
Karua was born in
Kirinyaga DistrictKirinyaga District is an administrative district in the Central Province of Kenya. Its capital town is Kerugoya. The district has a population of 457,105 and an area of 1,478 km² .The district has four constituencies:*Mwea Constituency...
,
Central ProvinceKenya's Central Province covers the area around its capital city, Nyeri, to southwest of Mt. Kenya . It is the ancestral home of, among others, the g.e.m.a. communities...
of Kenya; she was the second born in a family of eight siblings, four girls and four boys. She studied law at the
University of NairobiThe University of Nairobi is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in...
from 1977 to 1980. Between 1980 and 1981 she was enrolled at the
Kenya School of LawThe Kenya School Of Law is currently the only Bar school in Kenya. After their completion of an Undergraduate Degrees in Law from a recognized university, students attend the Kenya School of law to be prepared for admission to the Kenyan Bar....
for the statutory post graduate law course that is a prerequisite to admission to the Kenyan roll of advocates and licensing to practice law in Kenya. She then entered the public service, and worked as a
MagistrateA magistrate is a judicial officer; in ancient Rome, the word magistratus denoted one of the highest government officers with judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a magistrate has limited law enforcement and administration authority...
from 1981 to 1987. From 1987 to 2002 she worked in private practice as an advocate.
1981 - 2002
She worked in the Judiciary as a District Magistrate rising to a Senior Resident Magistrate at the time of exit in 1987. During this period, she was in charge of Makadara Law Courts from 1984 to 1985 and Kibera Law Courts from 1986 to 1987 when she left to start her own law firm. In the year 1987 Martha Karua formed Martha Karua & Co. Advocates which she operated till the year 2002. While in practice, Karua presented many pro bono cases notable among them the treason trial of Koigi Wamwere and where she represented the late Hon. Mirugi Kariuki.
She immensely contributed to the development of family law and especially the distribution of matrimonial property as well as constitutional and administrative law.
1990 - 2002
Karua was a member of the opposition political movements that successfully agitated for the reintroduction of multi-party democracy in Kenya in the early 1990s. Kenya was at the time under the authoritarian rule of the
Kenya African National UnionThe Kenya African National Union, better known as KANU, ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence from British colonial rule in 1963, until its electoral loss at the end of 2002...
(KANU), the only legally recognised political party in Kenya and which was lead by president
Daniel arap MoiDaniel Toroitich arap Moi was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002.Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'...
.
Martha Karua joined
Kenneth MatibaKenneth Matiba is a Kenyan politician. He was the second-place candidate in the 1992 presidential election.Matiba became a senior civil servant at a young age of 28. Even before Kenya attained its independence in 1963, Matiba had already joined the high echelons of the Kenya's civil service...
's Ford-Asili party but lost the party nomination ticket to the wealthy and influential former Head of Public Service Geoffrey Kareithi. She was then offered a ticket and support by the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP) elders who wanted a clean break from the Kareithi - Nahashon Njuno rivalry. Karua won the 1992 general election to become the MP for Gichugu constituency and the first woman lawyer to be popularly elected to Parliament. She was also appointed as the party's legal affairs secretary between 1992 and 1997.
In 1998, Karua declined the position of Shadow Minister for Culture and Social Services which conflicted with her position of National Secretary for Constitutional Affairs (an elected office) that made her the official spokesperson on legal matters of the party. She opted to resign her position as the National Secretary.
In 2001, when the Constitutional Review Bill was laid before the House, the entire Opposition with the exception of Karua walked out of Parliament. The Bill had been rejected by the Opposition as well as Civil Society but Karua was of the view that as elected representatives, instead of walking out, it would be more prudent to remain in Parliament and put the objections on record. She therefore chose to remain in the Parliament and her objections to the Bill were duly recorded in the Hansard.
Later she was among those who formed the political coalition
NARCNARC, narc or nark may refer to:* Narcotic, an addictive drug derived from opium* Narc, an Orc-like character in the parody Bored of the Rings* Narc , a 2002 film about dirty cops involved in policing the drug trade...
that won the 2003 General Election in Kenya and ended KANU's nearly four decades of leadership in Kenya's politics.
2003 to March 2009
Karua is still a prominent national politician. Until April 6, 2009 she was the Minister of Justice, National Cohesion & Constitutional Affairs. She also previously served as Minister of Water Resources Management & Development, and was behind the implementation of the Water Act 2002, which has since then accelerated the pace of water reforms and service provision in Kenya.
Karua remained Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister in the Cabinet appointed by Kibaki on January 8, 2008, following the controversial
December 2007 electionA presidential election was held as part of the Kenyan general election on December 27, 2007; parliamentary elections were held on the same date. Incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner and sworn in on December 30, despite opposition leader Raila Odinga's claims of victory...
.
In an interview with BBC's
HARDtalkHardtalk is a flagship BBC television programme, consisting of in-depth half-hour one-on-one interviews....
in January 2008, Karua said, regarding the violent crisis that had developed over the election results, that while the government had anticipated that the opposition
Orange Democratic MovementOrange Democratic Movement refers to a political party in Kenya, which is the successor of a former grassroots people's movement which was formed in the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The erstwhile single party which separated in August 2007 into two...
(ODM) of
Raila OdingaRaila Amollo Odinga is a Kenyan politician, currently serving as the Prime Minister of Kenya in a coalition government. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Langata since 1992, was Minister of Energy from 2001 to 2002, and was Minister of Roads, Public Works and Housing from 2003 to 2005...
might be "planning mayhem if they lost", it was surprised by "the magnitude" of it, calling the violence "ethnic cleansing". Asked to clarify, Karua said that she was stating "categorically" that the ODM planned ethnic cleansing. Odinga subsequently called Karua's accusation "outrageous". Karua headed the government's team in negotiations with the opposition regarding the political dispute that resulted from the election. The political crisis eventually led to the signing of a power-sharing agreement between Kibaki and Odinga. In the grand coalition Cabinet that was announced on April 13, 2008, Karua remained in her post as Minister of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs.
She was endorsed as the national chairperson of the
NARC-KenyaThe National Rainbow Coalition–Kenya is a political party in Kenya. The party was formed after the defeat of the Government sponsored Draft constitution. It was formed by National Rainbow Coalition members loyal to the government...
political party on November 15, 2008. There was virtually no competitive election during the party’s national delegates’ convention at the
Bomas of KenyaBomas of Kenya is a tourist village in Langata, Nairobi. Bomas displays traditional villages belonging to the several Kenyan tribes....
in Nairobi as all the officials including Ms Karua were being endorsed. After her endorsement she immediately declared she would be gunning for the highest political seat in the Kenya's 2012 elections.
Martha Karua resigned as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs on April 6, 2009, citing frustrations in discharging her duties. A clear example of her frustrations was when President
Mwai KibakiMwai Kibaki is a Kenyan politician and the third President of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President . He also held several other cabinet positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Health .He then served as an opposition...
appointed Judges without her knowledge a few days before her resignation. She was the first Minister to resign voluntarily since 2003.
Iron Lady
At one time in her Kirinyaga District, Karua walked out on President Moi who was then addressing a crowd in the district stadium. She has been a leading crusader for the widening of democratic space and gender issues in Kenya. She has been involved in championing women’s rights through public interest litigation, lobbying and advocacy for laws that enhance and protect women’s rights through her work with various women’s organizations, particularly the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Kenya) and the League of Kenya Women Voters.
In February 2009 during her time as Minister of Justice, she once had a heated argument with the Minister of Agriculture
William RutoWilliam Samoei Ruto is a Kenyan politician who has been Minister for Agriculture since April 2008. He was Secretary General of the Kenya African National Union, the former ruling political party, and he has been MP for Eldoret North Constituency since the 1997 Kenyan election...
at a cabinet meeting as the President sat quietly, watching the sparring ministers, a source at the meeting said. “The President did not say or do anything. He just sat there quietly watching as the ministers took on each other. It was chaotic, hot and eruptive. The two ministers had been sparring in public over a period of three weeks, with Ms Karua demanding Mr Ruto’s resignation over a maize scandal.
She was referred to as "
the only man" in the PNU Cabinet.
Private life
Martha Karua gained attention after she and a Catholic priest, Fr. Dominic Wamugunda, were carjacked and robbed on December 6 2003. She said in Parliament that she was under no obligation to provide any explanation for why she was in Wamugunda's car or what she was doing at the time of the carjacking. Her security guards were not present when the crime occurred; Karua said that when she did not feel she needed the guards, she did not use them. Martha Karua is a divorcee.
Ambitions
Martha Karua declared she is running for the presidency in 2012.
Recognition
In 1991 Karua was recognized by
Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto,...
as a human rights monitor.
In December 1995 she was awarded by the Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers (FIDA) for advancing the course of women.
In 1999 the Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurists awarded her the 1999 Kenya Jurist of the Year and in the same year same month, the law society of Kenya (LSK) awarded her the Legal Practitioners Due Diligence Award.
Martha Karua,theMirror
External links