| Celebrated Name: | Martha Wangari Karua |
| Real Name/Full Name: | Martha Karua |
| Gender: | Female |
| Age: | 67 years old |
| Birth Date: | 22nd September 1957 |
| Birth Place: | Kirinyaga County, Kenya |
| Nationality: | Kenyan |
| Height: | 175cm |
| Weight: | 60kg |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Marital Status: | Divorced |
| Husband/Spouse (Name): | Dr. Njoka |
| Children/Kids (Son and Daughter): | Yes.[Wawira and Njoka] |
| Dating/Boyfriend (Name): | N/A |
| Profession: | Politician and Jurist |
| Salary: | Unknown |
| Net Worth in 2024: | Sh 2.5 million |
| Last Updated: | November 2024 |
Martha Karua is a well-known Kenyan politician and an advocate of social justice. She is known to be the former long-distance Member of Parliament for the Gichugu Constituency. Again, she served in the High Court as an advocate and was Minister for Justice until resigning from the position year 2009. Martha has fought for the right and protection of women.
Currently, Martha Karua is the running mate of Raila Odinga in the upcoming general elections.
Early Life & Biography
Martha Karua was born in Kirinyaga District in the Central Province of Kenya on 22nd September 1957. She was named Martha Wangari Karua after birth by her parents Jackson Karua her father and Josephine Wanjiru Karua her mother. Martha was brought up in a family of eight, four girls and four boys where she was the second born.
Martha grew up and when she was of age, she enrolled at Mugumo Primary School where she completed her primary level. She joined Kabare Girls Boarding School and St. Michael’s Boarding School in Keruguya. She was later transferred to a number of high schools that including; Kiburia Girls Secondary School, Ngiriambu Girl’s Secondary School, and Karoti Girl’s High School in Kirinyaga County where she passed her East African Secondary School Certificate. She later decided to go for an A level which she gained at Nairobi Girl’s Secondary School.
After passing her secondary level, she joined the University of Nairobi where she studied law. Again, she enrolled at the Kenya School of Law to further her law course.
Personal Life: Husband, Family, Children
Concerning Martha’s personal life, She was a married woman to Dr. Njoka. However, they divorced, and dating no one as for her current state. Martha together with Dr. Njoka was blessed with two children namely; Wawira her daughter and Njoka her son. Though she is not in any relationship currently, she was involved in a relationship with the Court of Appeal Judge, Justice GBM Kariuki though the relationship didn’t last for long. After divorcing Kariuki, he was arrested for scandals and was charged with murder.
Martha in a certain interview stated not to be interested in marriage or any relationship.
Career
Based on her career as a jurist, Martha began working after graduating as a magistrate in various courts such as Nakuru, Kibera, and Makadara where she received credit for careful discernment. Martha opposition political movement. That was when Kenya was under the rule of the Kenya African National Union [KANU] which was led by late president Daniel Arap Moi. She later joined Kenneth Matiba’s
Ford-Asili Party. She later walked out of the party leadership Elections leaving her opponent Geoffrey Karekia Kariithi to be declared the winner. It was afterward when she joined the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP) where she won the Party nominations/ticket and proceeded to win the election as Gichugu MP in December 1992 against the incumbent Geoffrey Karekia Kariithi freeing Gichugu constituents from the Kareithi – Nahashon Njuno rivalry. Karua became the MP for the Gichugu constituency and the first woman lawyer to be popularly elected to Parliament. She was elected as the Democratic party’s legal affairs secretary in 1993.
Afterward, she 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 though she opted to resign for that position.
Another political coalition [NARC] was formed and won the year 2002 and 2003 General Elections and Karua were among those who formed it. All through until 2009, she was the minister of Justice, National Cohesion, and Constitutional Affairs which she was appointed by Kibaki. Again, she was elected the chairperson of the NARC-Kenya political party though she resigned in April 2009 after receiving some frustrations when President Mwai Kibaki appointed judges without consulting her. That made her the first minister to resign voluntarily.
In 2013, she contested the presidential election under the NARC Kenya party ticket where she was the sixth among the contestants with 43,881 votes. Again, during the 2017 general elections, she was seeking a Gubernational seat in Kirinyaga County which she lost to current Governor Anne Waiguru. Karua tried to file a case in court several times which eventually failed. Martha later inclined toward CORD, the main opposition political party led by Raila Odinga though they have been long-standing political foes.
In May 2022, presidential candidate Raila Odinga named Karua as his running mate making her the first woman in Kenyan history to run for a political ticket of a major political party. This shows that if Raila Odinga the leader of [Azimio la Umoja Coalition] wins in the August 2022 elections as the President of Kenya, Karua will be the first Kenyan Woman Deputy President and the highest ranking Kenyan woman in history.
Awards & Achievements
Throughout her career, Karua has been awarded a number of awards. She was recognized by Human Rights Watch as a human rights monitor. Again, she was awarded by the Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers [F.I.D.A]for advancing the cause of women year 1995. Also, the Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurist awarded her the Kenya Jurist of the Year in 1999.
In that same year, same month, the Law Society of Kenya [LSK] awarded her the Legal Practitioners Due Diligence Award.
Net Worth & Salary of Martha Karau in 2024
The estimated net worth of the Kenyan politician Martha Karua is around Kshs 150 million. Karua revealed her net worth in the Deputy Presidential Debate in July 2022. She has gathered her wealth through her career as Jurist. Also, her career as a politician has played a great role in raising her net worth.
Conclusion
Matha Karua is well known for her good work in fighting for the rights of women all over Kenya. Currently, she is the Running Mate for The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party Right Honourable Former Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Amolo Odinga.