In an exclusive interview that aired on Sunday night on K24, Kenya's Iron Lady of politics Martha Karua revealed why she turned down an opportunity to join President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Cabinet.
Speaking to Anne Kiguta on the Punchline show, the Narc Kenya Party leader said she told President Kenyatta flatly that she would not join his Cabinet because his Jubilee Party rigged her out.
“I told Uhuru I was not interested in Cabinet because Jubilee rigged me out…They rigged at all levels. Jubilee rigged big time,” Karua said.
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Karua, who served in the Kibaki government as a powerful Justice minister, also says she was uncomfortable working with "some people" in Mr Kenyatta’s Cabinet, accusing them of using proxy firms to line their pockets in murky deals.
'Vifaranga vya computer'
Ms Karua’s election rigging claims echoes NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga's bitter dispute of the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta in the August 7, 2017 election.
Mr Odinga, who since turned a new leaf by famously shaking hands with President Kenyatta, initially rejected the election results released by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and went ahead to swear himself in as the "People's President."
The Nasa candidate claimed IEBC’s electronic voting system had been hacked and results were doctored not only in the presidential election but all other seats, including those of the governors.
Mr Odinga termed many of the election winners “vifaranga vya computer”, meaning they were computer-generated poll victors.
IEBC's presidential election results showed that Mr Kenyatta garnered 54.27 percent of the ballots cast with Mr Odinga getting 44.74 percent.
'March 9 truce'
Following Nasa’s petition the Supreme Court in a historic ruling, and a first for Kenya and Africa, nullified Mr Kenyatta’s re-election and a repeat poll ordered within 60 days.
Mr Odinga failed to participate in the repeat poll and was later ‘sworn-in’ as the People’s President in a ceremony at Uhuru Park on January 30, 2018.
Two months later on March 9, a handshake on the steps of Harambee House in Nairobi with Mr Kenyatta, ended political hostilities as the two former rivals agreed to work together.
On Sunday, Ms Karua revived claims that some governors, MPs and ward representatives may have secured their seats courtesy of alleged Jubilee rigging.
The Narc-Kenya leader also renewed her attack on Ann Mumbi Waiguru Kamotho, claiming she is failing terribly as governor of Kirinyaga County.
Ms Waiguru is seen as a potential heir of the vote-rich Mt Kenya bloc but Ms Karua maintains that she is still popular in the region.
