What message from Karua’s action?

• She is the head of a political party and a contender for the presidency in 2012.

Something extraordinary happened Monday morning; a Kenyan minister resigned from the Cabinet on a matter of principle.

The only other times this has happened, besides, of course, during the waning years of the Moi rule when several ministers jumped ship, was when Mr Kenneth Matiba resigned as Transport minister in 1988, Mr Simeon Nyachae quit in a huff after being demoted from the Finance ministry, and Mr John Koech resigned after a tiff with his boss.

But, of course, besides Mr Matiba’s and now Ms Karua’s, the other resignations may not qualify as significant because they were not brought about by any prick of the conscience, but by incompatibility.

The ostensible reason Ms Karua resigned is that she has been frustrated in her work trying to reform the Judiciary, and by the feeling that she no longer enjoys the President’s confidence the way she used to.

The spectacular humiliation she suffered when three magistrates, whose swearing in as judges she blocked in December 2006, were eventually sworn-in without her personal input, was compounded by the President’s public repudiation of her campaign for judicial reform.

Ms Karua has been carrying on a spirited campaign against Chief Justice Evan Gicheru and his performance in that office, which, according to her, stood in the way of reforms to introduce transparency and merit in judicial appointments.

The resignation, however, was not entirely altruistic. She is the head of a political party and a contender for the presidency in 2012.

Could it be that she rubbed some people the wrong way due to her ambition, and they would have got rid of her anyway? The truth will out.

For now, what is clear is that the resignation has robbed the Kibaki administration of one of its most formidable operators and fearless defender.

If her action has any meaning at all to this administration, then it will have encouraged others dissatisfied with bad governance to call it a day.