Kenya is on the cusp of a historic moment. It is playing out in the political arena where a woman has pretty good chances of rising to the second highest office in the land.

Martha Karua, a veteran politician and the party leader of Narc-Kenya, who is often referred to as the “Iron Lady”, could on August 9 become the country’s first-ever woman Deputy President in the nearly 60 years of independence.

The presidential candidate of one of the two leading coalitions, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance, ODM party leader Raila Odinga recently stirred up the national political scene by picking the 64-year-old former Gichugu Member of Parliament as his running mate. The Raila-Karua team will battle it out with the Kenya Kwanza pair of Deputy President William Ruto and Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.

Martha’s unveiling at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on Monday, May 16, 2022, erupted into jubilation the moment the ODM party leader started describing the attributes of his would-be running mate before mentioning her by name. Her entry has excited the race to State House and the Office of the President in Harambee House on Harambee Avenue in downtown Nairobi.

Parallels have been drawn with American Vice-President Kamala Harris, who broke the glass ceiling when she was nominated by President Joe Biden as his deputy in 2020. Harris became the first female, black and Asian-American to hold the second most powerful position in the global superpower.

Martha Karua’s close friend, Martha Koome, also became the first woman Chief Justice of Kenya. On May 21, 2021, at 1.30pm, Martha Karua tweeted: “Congrats to CJ Martha Koome upon her appointment and oath of office. Much is expected of her and I wish her well and pray that God’s grace be upon her to serve with dedication & to remain steadfast to her oath of office.”

Martha the politician is a focused, and principled personality, who does not suffer fools. Many remember her for walking out of a public rally addressed by then President Daniel arap Moi, in June 2001, after being excluded from the list of speakers.

This was at the height of his near-imperial presidency, a dictatorship, in fact. She would also in April 2008 quit her powerful position of Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister in the Cabinet of the third President of Kenya, Emilio Mwai Kibaki, citing frustration.

This woman of steel, who has been in the political arena for several decades, serving as the Gichugu MP from 1992 to 2013, was born on September 22, 1957 in Kirinyaga District in then Central Province.

Standing at only 5ft8in, the slightly built Martha is a vibrant package. The daughter of Jackson and Josephine Wanjiru Karua, she has seven siblings. She is the second of eight children– four daughters and four sons.

Martha had a humble upbringing that instilled in her values, including a sense of duty that she still cherishes today.

She is a mother of two, George Maringa, a broadcaster, and his elder sister, and a grandmother of three. She was once described as “the only man” in the Party of National Unity (PNU) Cabinet of Mwai Kibaki.

Martha went to Kabare Girls Boarding School, Kiburia Girls and Ngiriambu Girls secondary schools before joining Karoti Girls School, where she sat her East African Certificate of Education (EACE) examination in the early 1970s. For her Advanced Levels, she went to Nairobi Girls School. She then joined the University of Nairobi, where she studied law from 1977 to 1980.

She showed her leadership in the Judiciary, starting as a District Magistrate. She quit in 1987 as a Senior Resident Magistrate, having worked at Makadara and Kibera law courts in Nairobi.

Martha then set up her law firm, Martha Karua & Company in 1987, and started her activism by representing government critics such as political firebrand Koigi wa Wamwere and the late Nakuru lawyer and politician Mirugi Kariuki. She would then become an active member of the opposition movement that agitated for the restoration of multi-party democracy from the early 1980s.

After a united opposition under Narc ousted Independence party Kanu in the 2002 elections, she would serve as the Minister for Water, where she is credited with leading the reforms that gave birth to the water companies in the various towns, accelerating the provision of the precious commodity to many Kenyans.

But Martha’s life has not been all bliss. Her detractors have always cited the incident on December 6, 2003 involving a Toyota Rav4 car in which she was riding at night with a Catholic priest, Father Dominic Wamugunda.

In her characteristic style, she brushed off questions raised in Parliament about it, as having nothing to do with her fellow MPs. She said she was under no obligation to provide any explanation for being in Fr Wamugunda’s car and what she was doing when they were carjacked.

Another controversy arose from her reported intimate relationship with Judge GBM Kariuki. During her tenure as the Justice minister, Justice Kariuki accused her of getting him arrested after he had ended their relationship.

According to documents filed in a civil suit in the High Court, the judge claimed that she had instigated his arrest and malicious prosecution after he walked out on her.

Investigating officers had told the court that they were under pressure from the Attorney-General and Justice minister to arrest the judge and keep him in the cells though there was no evidence to support a murder charge against him.

Martha remains proudly single and more determined to serve her fellow Kenyans as a politician and had planned to have another go at the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat, having lost in 2017 to Anne Waiguru before Azimio came knocking.

She keeps herself busy when she is not doing politics by enjoying a game of golf, meeting with her friends or watching TV.

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