NARC-Kenya party leader Martha Karua recollected the events of December 2007 when President Mwaki Kibaki was swiftly sworn into office while she was his staunch supporter.
Narrating the events captured in her memoir, Against the Tide, Karua said that at the time Kibaki’s victory had been hotly contested and despite the simmering uproar, a swearing-in had to be done immediately.
Then an agent for the nation’s third president, Karua said that the swearing-in was within the provisions of the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) amendment.
She added that Kibaki’s leadership was on the line and retaining him in office was vital, despite a foreseeable backlash from the opposition.
“How else could the swearing-in have been conducted? Kibaki is declared winner. The manner of swearing in was [to] swear him immediately and I challenge anybody to look at the IPPG amendment and to see that the President was to be sworn in immediately he is declared,” Karua noted.
“In that particular time, Kibaki’s tenure was ending on that day, it was important he be sworn in and he was.”
Karua still maintained that she has no regrets over her political stance at the time, noting that she was doing what was required from a loyal political soldier.
“I did what by me was right meaning that even tomorrow I will do what is right. I have no regrets about the role I played as Kibaki’s agent and I had voted for him so I was following my vote too,” she maintained.
She however regrets the aftermath of the traumatic 2007 post-election violence which led to deadly tribal clashes killing thousands, rape and displacement of people.
“We regret the loss of life, destruction of property, displacement. We also regret our failure as leaders which could have let the country into the abyss,” she noted.
In the memoir, Karua illuminates the unspoken and unknown truths of the political inner circle as she sat in the front row during Kibaki’s tenure.
She delves into why the Kibaki administration did not crack the whip on corruption cartels, blaming the President’s inner circle and the tumultuous tensions in the run-up to a referendum in 2010.
