Narc-Kenya Party leader Martha Karua is not new to political controversy.
Karua, one of the experienced politicians in the country, has had her own share of the country’s political intrigues.
A critic of retired president Daniel Arap Moi, Karua never shied away from critiquing the county’s longest-serving president.
Karua’s political rivalry with Moi and her rivals showed up during a Harambee at Moi Karugoya stadium in Kirinyaga following a disagreement on June 16, 2001.
During the Harambee, Karua who had been elected as Gichugu MP on Democratic Party ticket stormed out of the meeting as Moi rose to address participants.
Karua pulled the rare and quite audacious move despite the Moi regime being notoriously known for brutally and ruthlessly dealing with its critics.
During a phone interview with Citizen TV, Karua said she could not stand the criticism and utterances that were being made by Moi supporters about the opposition, hence, her decision to get up and storm out of the presidential dias.
One of the leaders at the event was quoted by the Daily Nation calling on Moi to be allowed to serve as President for life, while others disparaged the opposition saying they (opposition) do not know the value of independence.
“Whenever he went to public places where there would be leaders he never acknowledged the opposition which led to my walk out of his function in Kirinyaga when he denied me a chance to address the people and also rebut the unpalatable things his people were saying about the opposition and my then party leader retired President Mwai Kibaki,” said Karua.
The former MP walked out of the meeting while she shook her clenched fist, the symbol of her party, in front of Moi and other leaders.
“I was seated next to him. I approached him and told him he has to give me time to rebut what was being said because it is wrong and he just said that he wouldn’t say the things his people were saying but then he did not stop them nor did he give me a chance to speak.”
Karua says her decision to get up and leave as the President rose to address the crowd was “a show of disagreement and defiance.”
“Respect is a two-way traffic. He (Moi) disrespected the opposition and myself who were present. It was a show of disagreement and defiance which the law entitled me to. I chose not to listen to him because they could not listen to me too. As a lawyer, I knew I had the right to do so,” says Karua.
The Narc-Kenya party boss maintains that any leader should be held responsible for what is said or done by their foot soldiers.
“Any leader, when you are in a meeting and your juniors do things you do not approve of you should come out publicly and say this is not the way. Whether it is intolerant or throwing others out of a meeting or name-calling, any leader who sits while his troops do the name calling he is responsible,” added Karua.
The former Gichugu Member of Parliament, however, believes that there are good lessons to be learned from Moi.
“Everybody has a positive side. Whenever the country reached a boiling point Moi always tended to retreat and to give space for people to talk,” says Karua citing the times when Moi gave in to the push for multi-party democracy and when he peacefully handed over power in 2002.
Moi, however, condemned the incident saying that there was no need for politicians to engage in hateful politics.
