United opposition led by Peoples's Liberation Party leader Martha Karua and Wiper counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka during a press briefing in Nairobi on 31st July 2025.[Collins Oduor, Standard]
Let's pity Karua, she is Raila's biggest orphan
Opinion
By
Mark Oloo
| Oct 25, 2025
As Raila Odinga’s running mate in 2022, Martha Karua brought us close to an Angela Merkel moment.
Many in Azimio trusted her so much that, as Aden Duale would say, had she told them to jump from the top of the KICC, they would have done it. But inside her new camp today, Karua is caught in the tangle of ideological and political contradictions.
Once admired for her wit and willpower, she is now adrift in a loose alliance driven by survival, not principle.
Appearing on the ‘Situation Room’ this week, Karua confidently said she still has a ‘strong chance’ of becoming President, and that her focus is on the future rather than past setbacks.
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But how can this be possible when she is evidently out of place among strange bedfellows, trapped in a union of convenience where she and they are as incompatible as oil and water?
While the former Gichugu MP’s evolution is due to complex trade-offs of our politics where idealism collides with realities of ethnicity, electoral arithmetic and survival, we are losing her voice as a proponent of honest leadership. I have doubts if she can be Kenya’s next Raila Odinga.
Could it be that the People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader, who possesses many of Raila’s virtues, has embraced the theory of ‘pragmatic’ or ‘opportunistic populism’ where one aligns with a populist movement regardless of their consistency with past values just to retain relevance?
Karua has the right to assemble, but not with predators of public good, braggarts, opportunists and ethnic bigots, some of whom are celebrating Raila’s death. Not with the perennially indecisive and the know-it-alls who view the State as a shareholding enterprise. While aligning with them doesn’t necessarily mean she endorses their views, where does this leave her image?
All along, the Iron Lady protected her space. On June 16, 2001, she walked out on President Daniel Moi in Kerugoya wagging her fist. In 2009, when Mwai Kibaki’s allies bullied her, she quit her ministerial post in a huff. During the 2008 Serena talks, she defended PNU to the hilt.
But today, Wanjiku has many questions for her. Does her value system align with those of her new allies? What exactly is Karua and her party’s vision for transforming Kenya? She is preoccupied with making claims without offering alternatives. Recently, she said the State was training a militia group. What has she done about it?
Voters don’t see Karua mentoring the next generation of women leaders. What is she waiting for? And finally, what hope is she giving to people who never imagined she would seek the top job through trial and error?
Methinks Karua deserves pity.
Had she stuck with Raila, she wouldn’t be in the hyena’s den. It is hard to shift the tide in a sea of opportunists. Nothing is more frustrating than playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers. They overwhelm you and, before you know it, your energy is drained.
Her new allies seem to overestimate their influence from car roofs, press conferences and rallies. They ignore reality. One of their hopes is that the UDA-ODM-Kanu deal will fail. Another is that the Gen-Z vote will elude President William Ruto. What if the opposite happens?
Whatever the case, the Iron Lady must calculate 2027 with precision. In the event her camp falters, she will not spring back easily. She will make history as our Merkel who never was. It will be an awful exit for the only woman with the mettle of Venezuela’s Maria Machado.
I reiterate that Ms Karua’s ambitions are valid. But first, she must quickly rethink. The sooner, the better.
I miss two politicians: one who died last week and another who used to think, speak and act with so much purity and conviction.
The writer is a communications practitioner. X:@markoloo
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