Why Martha Karua walked away

Her letter of resignation, which the President has the option of accepting or rejecting, was sent to State House, Nairobi, on Monday. President Kibaki returns from Zambia on Tuesday.

“My letter of resignation to the President is equally short and I am not going to explain anything beyond what I have said. I would like to plead for understanding from my constituents, members of my party, Narc Kenya, my family and my friends,” she said.

The Gichugu MP’s decision comes at a time when the coalition government grappling with rising tension between the partners. The weekend’s Kilaguni Lodge meeting brought to the open deep and at times farcical differences between ODM and PNU.

ODM accuses PNU of blocking reforms and PNU hits back by saying ODM is only interested in accumulating more power. Ms Karua, who speaks her mind freely, has made many political enemies in PNU, including Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta, Cabinet ministers Kiraitu Murungi and George Saitoti who have publicly criticised her.

My work

“I have done my best serving in the ministry but it is now untenable. This resignation is about being obstructed from doing my work,” she said.

Ms Karua had objected to the appointment of chief magistrates Aggrey Muchelule, Florence Muchemi and lawyer Abida Ali-Aroni three years ago.

She has also blamed Mr Justice Gicheru of being against judicial reforms, which were identified under Agenda Four of the National Accord.

In turn, the CJ accused Ms Karua of interfering with his work and blocking the appointment of more judges at a time when Kenya’s law courts were being choked with a backlog of cases.

Ms Karua, who strongly defended President Kibaki during the tallying of presidential votes at the Kenya International Conference Centre late December 2007 and led the PNU team during the mediation talks, was not given the position of Deputy Prime Minister, as some expected. She was also initially left out of the top level team charged with managing coalition affairs.