HomeOn March 16th presidential hopeful former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga announced Martha Karua as his running mate. Martha is the first female running mate to work alongside Raila Odinga.
Raila Odinga has vied for president five times now having chosen Kalonzo Musyoka as his running mate in the 2013 and 2017 elections.
Many women and notable people are over the moon because they believe this is a positive step towards equality and women empowerment. Should Raila win on an Azimio ticket in the 9th August 2022 elections, Martha will be the first female deputy president in Kenya.
She is famously referred to as the iron lady of Kenyan politics due to her no-nonsense approach and brand. But a keen look into the Narc Kenya leader’s career you won’t ignore her fierce passion as an activist.
First and foremost she was among the many young politicians who fought and rigorously championed multiparty democracy in the early 90s. As Raila was presenting her he said that she was one of the young lawyers who fought for his release when he was detained without trial. The Moi-led one-party regime detained dissidents, others went into exile and others died under mysterious circumstances.
When Martha Karua became the minister for Justice and legal affairs she once resigned. Karua cited a difficult working relationship with the late President Mwai Kibaki was the president then.
She is known to have partnered with the Linda Katiba movement to oppose the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). The BBI which was born from the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga proposed sweeping changes to the Constitution of Kenya 2010. One of the controversial changes was expanding the executive and having the office of the Ombudsman come under the Executive arm of government.
Martha has stood by her fidelity to the rule of law and in her acceptance speech, she assured Kenyans that she will stick to that if they clinch the presidency.
