Martha Wangari Karua: Iron lady. Pioneer, Trailblazer. Deputy President?

May 17, 2022 Uncategorized

Martha Karua has often been referred to as the Iron Lady, and now she could be just a step away from becoming Kenya’s first woman Deputy President. Raila Odinga named Martha Karua to the role making her the first woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket. “History is calling us to close the gender gap in our country,” said Mr Odinga.

Born on September 22, 1957 in Gichugu, Kirinyaga County and A lawyer by profession, Ms Karua was elected MP for Gichugu constituency in 1992 and became the Democratic Party’s legal affairs secretary in 1993.She served as minister for Water Resources Management and Development in the late President Mwai Kibaki’s administration between 2003 and 2008 before she was appointed minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs, where she served until April 6, 2009.

She has earned a reputation as a straight-talker especially on issues of human rights, democracy and corruption. At the risk of being blacklisted, she defended several human rights activists. The main question now however is whether Kenyans will vote woman into high office, a milestone which has eluded the country so far.