The move by Raila Amollo Odinga to appoint Martha Wangari Karua to be his running mate nominee is a masterstroke move. Like a seasoned poker player Raila has left his opponents wondering what hit them. From the celebration witnessed across the country, it's evident that most Kenyans have widely accepted the ticket. Earlier, Ruto had tried to influence the choice of Raila's running mate by rallying his troupes to vouch for Kalonzo Musyoka. The Kenya Kwanza brigade hoped that Raila would bow to pressure and make the mistake of nominating Kalonzo Musyoka. Martha Karua brings in a combination of the women's votes and Mount Kenya's votes. The Kenya Kwanza brigade in a bid to save face might not admit this but truth be told this move sends them back to the drawing board. This could just be the card that finally, sends Raila to the statehouse after several attempts.
But who is this lady Martha Karua, and why is she the trump card that might just propel Raila Odinga to the house on the hill? Born on 22 September 1957 in Kimunye village, Gichugu constituency, Kirinyaga County, she is the second born in a family of eight children. She attended kiburia Girls Secondary and Karoti Girls school and later proceeded to Nairobi Girls for her A levels. In 1977 she joined the University of Nairobi for her Law degree and graduated in 1980. She was admitted to the roll of advocates in 1981.
In the same year of 1981, at the age of 24, she was appointed a magistrate and served in Makadara and Kibera law courts among others. She served for 6 years and resigned to form her own law firm, Martha Karua &Co advocates, and took up cases to represent the human rights activists like Koigi Wamwere among others. who back then were not getting lawyers to represent them due to fear of persecution from the Moi regime. It is around this time that she met Raila Odinga, a political detainee, who many lawyers had shunned in fear of Moi. She led a team of 27 lawyers in representing Raila. She would later join him in the fight for multi-partyism on his release.
Later she would become the first woman lawyer to be elected to parliament when she was elected the Gichugu member of parliament in 1992. Martha Karua's strength is in her integrity. She has led a corrupt-free public office serving in both the opposition and government. She brings her resilience and go-getter attitude to the azimio ticket. There is no doubt that Karua is an asset to whichever side that she chooses to play for. In 2007 she led the late President Kibaki's PNU team that negotiated with Raila Odinga's ODM team that included William Ruto, putting up a spirited defense for her PNU team earning her the name 'the only man in PNU'.
Raila And Karua have worked together twice in government apart from their times in the trenches. The first time was in the NARC government and later in the grand coalition government after the post-election violence. If they win Karua will be the first Kenyan Woman Deputy president and the second Deputy president since the promulgation of the new Constitution. This is considered a win for the Kenyan women and the clamor for gender equality and the two-third rule which has proven elusive in Kenya. With the nomination of Karua, a serious enemy of corruption, Raila is sending a message that his government will not tolerate graft in its ranks. Martha Karua will also double up as minister of Justice and legal affairs, a docket that she last held in the Kibaki government and one that Uhuru Kenyatta abolished in his administration.
While nominating Karua, Raila also made some appointments that must have left the Kenya Kwanza team's jaws dropping in awe. Many are hailing the move as very tactical in securing the regional votes that he needs to win the elections in round one. Raila made advance appointments to his cabinet signaling to the regions what stakes they will have in his government. The Azimo flagbearer appointed Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka as the Chief Cabinet secretary and even though Kalonzo has bolted the coalition and announced he will be on the ballot, this will calm down his constituents and hopefully retain some to vote for the ticket. He also named Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya as his presumptive Treasury nominee amove that is intended to galvanize Western Kenya. Hassan Ali Joho is the Lands Cabinet Secretary and was tasked with handling and solving the historic coastal land injustices. This ensures that the coastal people remain in Azimio. Then there was the Munya Appointment meant to appease the Mount Kenya east constituents. These moves coupled with the Karua Nomination proved to many that Raila Odinga is still the great grandmaster of the Kenyan Political chess game.
The Raila-Karua ticket is touted as the better alternative to the Ruto-Gachagua ticket in many ways. Whereas the Ruto-Gachagua ticket is bogged down by the corruption cases and accusations against them, the Raila-Karua ticket is the opposite. The two share several similarities in traits and history as far as the fight against corruption and injustices is concerned. The two camps are like day and night. Kenyans have been presented with two choices, one of the relatively corruption-free reformists and that of dirty, shady wheeler-dealers. The question is, in whose hands will Kenyans be safe? The wheeler-dealers or the reformists? I doubt if this economy can survive the onslaught of the two biggest thieves of our times, at the same time. May God have mercy on us.
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