Martha Karua Joins Azimio Movement

Addressing the press at a Nairobi hotel on Wednesday, March 23, Karua – who will be seeking to unseat Anne Waiguru as the Kirinyaga Governor – noted that her decision to join Azimio was reached at after consultations with her party’s stakeholders as well as the electorate.

“From now onwards, NARC-Kenya and I are supporting the Azimio la Umoja candidate, Raila Odinga. This is without any equivocation, I have said time and again that as we move forward, we must look for leaders who have a demonstrated track record of being selfless and putting Kenyans’ interests above theirs,” Karua noted. 

She added that after soul-searching, she identified the former Prime Minister to be the best candidate to deliver the country’s third liberation should he succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in the coming August polls. 

“All sides have people who may have looted in the past, all sides have people who do not believe in the rule of law and all sides have good people. I have been looking keenly and without much struggle, I identified a critical mass of good people within the Azimio coalition,” she pointed out. 

Raila exuded confidence in Martha Karua’s decision to join the Azimio la Umoja movement, noting that they would forge together in the fight against graft. 

“I feel very proud to receive Martha here on this side of the divide. I don’t think she had any choice because the difference between this and that side is like day and night or black and white. The people who are together in the struggle are on this side,” Raila stated while welcoming the NARC-Kenya party leader into the Azimio movement. 

Karua adds to the growing list of seasoned politicians who have backed the presidential bid of Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) party leader, Raila Odinga.

Speculations were rife for the better part of Wednesday morning as Odinga and Karua held a closed-door meeting.

Karua had previously joined the One Kenya Alliance (OKA) after ANC party leader Musalia Mudavadi and his Ford-Kenya counterpart, Moses Wetangula, decamped to Kenya Kwanza, joining Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) as coalition partners. 

She signed the coalition agreement alongside Wiper leader, Kalonzo Musyoka, KANU’s Gideon Moi and United Democratic Party’s Cyrus Jirongo. 

However, days later, both Kalonzo and Moi signed the Azimio La Umoja agreement with the former dropping his presidential bid in favour of Raila. 

Before Karua joined Azimio, DP Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza too wooed the Narc-Kenya party boss.

File image of NARC Kenya party leader Martha Karua

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Martha Karua