A lawyer by profession, Martha Karua started her law career in 1981 as a Magistrate, before venturing into private practice as founding partner of one of the most successful women-led law firms of the time- Martha Karua & Co. Advocates. Karua has successfully argued precedent-setting cases and been involved in historic public interest litigation. In 2020 Karua was conferred with the rank of Senior Counsel.
For more than six years, Martha served as a Minister in the Government of Kenya in charge of various portfolios. As a Minister, she led various teams in negotiating different protocols and also made reports on the status of Kenya’s respect of Human Rights.
With others, she worked towards the establishment of institutions that promote and protect human rights, such as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights among other independent national and international accountability institutions.
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Between 2005 and 2009, she was Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, under whose watch Kenyan new and most progressive constitutional dispensation was promulgated. She is a strong believer in institutions, constitutionalism and constitutionality as the means of securing good governance and accountable people-centered development.
In 2005 as Minister for Water and Irrigation, Martha Karua was instrumental in developing the much-celebrated water sector reforms. Long before devolution, she guided inter-ministerial engagements in the government to ensure decentralization of resources to the grassroots. At the regional level, she worked with all the Ministers of the Nile Basin to affirm the rights of all countries in the region to access the Nile Waters.
Earlier in 1998 with others she launched the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Committee (IPPC) focused on an all-inclusive dialogue on constitutional review thus diffusing tension between the protagonists, pitching the government on one side and opposition and civil society on the other. She worked with the parties to develop a common agenda for reforms that led all the groups to work together as compatriots in search of a new dispensation.
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She is a founder member and Elected Chair, The League of Kenya Women Voters between 1992 andMay 2002.
Karua is also a founder member and the first Chair of the League of Women Voters that advocates for participation and inclusion of women in leadership. The League grew to become the leading voice for women’s inclusion in politics and leadership. The League has since supported many women to participate in leadership positions and has trained over one million in civic education.
She was elected Council Member of the Law Society of Kenya from 1989 to1992. She was also elected Council Member of Federation of Kenya Women Lawyers between 1990 and 1994.
She was also elected as a council member of FIDA – KENYA, a non-governmental organisation in Kenya that focuses on advocacy especially promotion and defence of women’s, human rights and provides free legal services for indigent women.
In addition to a Bachelor of Laws from Nairobi University, Hon. Karua holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the United States International University.
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