Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua says her relationship with the late Mwai Kibaki was hot and cold and that she sustained a series of betrayals, which she took in her stride.
From being left out of the shadow cabinet to being ignored in the final hours of the Kofi Annan-led negotiations, Karua claims she was never an insider in the Kibaki power matrix.
In her book: “Against the Tide: My journey on a less trodden path”, she writes that her “independent mind and principled stand” saw Kibaki’s men alienate her.
In some instances, her efforts to defend the President’s interests were ignored when reward time came.
“I was the DP elected national secretary for legal and constitutional affairs from 1993 and thus the spokesperson for the party on all legal matters. The expectation then was that I would be the automatic shadow Attorney General when Kibaki formed his shadow cabinet. It came as a surprise when Kibaki overlooked me and appointed the new entrant to DP, Kiraitu Murungi...”
Karua was however named the shadow secretary to checkmate Nyiva Mwendwa, who had been appointed by then President Daniel Moi as Minister for Gender, Culture and Social Services. She declined the appointment.
“Murungi’s appointment as shadow AG conflicted with my elected position as national secretary for legal and constitutional affairs. It opened the possibility of conflicting decisions on legal issues by having both of us as the party spokespersons on legal matters,” Karua wrote.
Kibaki’s advisors felt Karua’s actions amounted to insubordination. The tension sipped into the 2002 campaigns.
Moreover, Kibaki attempted to wrestle the Narc Kenya party from her in the run up to the 2007 elections.
Her refusal to give up the party saw the formation of PNU, on whose ticket Kibaki ran in 2007. Similarly, Kibaki’s agreement to amend the constitution to accommodate ODM’s demand for a grand coalition government in 2008, was treacherous.
After passionately turning down the suggestion at Kofi
Annan’s mediation table, Kibaki bypassed her and her
team in agreeing to it.
