Senior Counsel Martha Karua has shared a nostalgic reflection on her youth, detailing her early legal career as a young magistrate and single mother.
Writing on social media alongside a throwback photograph of herself in her twenties, the veteran Kenyan politician explained why September holds personal significance for her.
A Reflective Season
Karua revealed that September is her birth month. Born on 22 September 1957 in Kirinyaga County, the advocate noted that the season allows her to look back at her past.
"September has always been a reflective month for me," Karua wrote. "It is my birth month, and it gives me a reason to appreciate the road that brought me here."
She added: "So, as I prepare for the big day, I thought I would take you through a few decades of my life."
Karua earned her law degree from the University of Nairobi in 1980 and completed her legal training at the Kenya School of Law in 1981.
At age 24, she joined the judiciary as a magistrate, serving in Makadara, Nakuru, and Kibera courts.
"At 24, I became a magistrate, a responsibility and a title that felt significant at that age, even as I was still figuring out life beyond the courtroom," Karua stated.
She rose to Senior Resident Magistrate before leaving the judiciary in 1987 to set up her firm, Martha Karua & Company Advocates.
Balancing Family and Activism
During her late twenties, Karua managed court duties while raising her children as a single mother with family support.
"By my late twenties, I had risen to Senior Resident Magistrate and was raising a young family as a single mother, although thankfully, with the support of my sister and family," Karua shared.
Her early career coincided with Kenya's one-party rule. Karua defended dissidents in court and later served 20 years as Member of Parliament for Gichugu Constituency from 1992 to 2013, alongside serving as Minister for Water and Minister for Justice.
"Looking back, I wonder how that young woman managed to hold it all together while fighting against a dictatorship and remaining hopeful about the future I saw for myself, my country and family," she reflected.
Karua concluded her post with advice for young adults navigating their twenties.
"To those in your twenties, I hope you give yourself grace," Karua wrote. "You may not have all the answers, and you may not always know where the road is taking you but keep pushing against the tides that stand in your way."
"Trust that the life you are building will take shape, one step at a time," she added. "And perhaps, one day, you will look back and realise that you were stronger, braver and further along than you thought."
She concluded: "Here’s to the girl I was, and to all the young people still becoming."
