MINISTER OF JUSTICE KARUA RESIGNS FROM GOVERNMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 000706 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM KE SUBJECT: MINISTER OF JUSTICE KARUA RESIGNS FROM GOVERNMENT Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger for Reasons 1.4 (B and D) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Minister of Justice, National Cohesion, and Constitutional Affairs Martha Karua on April 6 resigned from the Grand Coalition government, explaining to the press that she could no longer discharge her duties due to interference from unnamed persons within government. Karua's resignation is driven by her increasing frustration with the failure of the government to tackle key reform issues relating to the culture of impunity. She has already expressed presidential ambitions for 2012, and may see her move as garnering popular support. Karua stated that she will continue to pursue the reform agenda as a backbencher. The NARC-Kenya party (with less than a dozen Members of Parliament) she heads will likely pressure her to stay in government to keep their ministerial and assistant ministerial positions. There are mixed reactions to Karua's resignation: on the one hand, coming in the wake of the failed coalition "bonding" off-site and the recent Annan conference on Kenya, she has intensified the spotlight on the government's poor performance and thus intensified pressure for action; on the other, Karua, who is one of the more honest and intelligent members of the political elite, is an activist genuinely committed to reform, so her absence from the cabinet contributes to even less action on reform. It remains to be seen who will be chosen to replace her. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Minister of Justice, National Cohesion, and Constitutional Affairs (Minister of Justice) Martha Karua on April 6 resigned from the Grand Coalition government. Karua, who had served as Minister of Justice since 2005, was one of President Kibaki's most strident defenders during Kenya's post-election crisis in early 2008. She initially rose to fame in the 1990s as a human rights lawyer and then as an uncompromising champion of multi-party democracy. She was first elected to parliament in 2002 on the NARC ticket (Kibaki and Odinga's so-called rainbow coalition) and served as Minister of Water and Irrigation until 2005, when she was appointed as Minister of Justice after her predecessor, Kiraitu Murungi, resigned due to allegations of corruption. Karua has earned a reputation for (sometimes brutal) honesty and incorruptibility. She is also known for her ambition, and was the first major politician to announce her 2012 presidential aspirations. ¶3. (C) Karua's tenure as Minister of Justice is mixed. She tried to push for reform of Kenya's notoriously inefficient and corrupt judicial system with little success. Karua's reform efforts were thwarted by a combination of factors, including Chief Justice Evan Gicheru and Attorney General Amos Wako, who have been reluctant to enact systemic reforms and to tackle corruption. Kenya's political class also opposed attempts to end the culture of impunity or to change the justice system which protects vested interests. ¶4. (C) Karua's outspoken nature and her tendency to fight battles publicly caused her to become increasingly isolated within the Grand Coalition government. She had attacked relentlessly perceived rivals for the leadership of the GEMA political grouping (an alliance of the greater Mt. Kenya region, representing the Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru tribes) in 2012, including Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Trade Uhuru Kenyatta, Minister of Internal Security and Provincial Administration George Saitoti, and Minister of Energy Kiraitu Murungi. She also sought to deflect blame from herself for the lack of judicial reform and prosecution of corruption, publicly accusing Gicheru and Wako of blocking judicial reform and the fight against corruption. ¶5. (C) It appears that two events over the past week pushed Karua to the decision to resign. The first was President Kibaki's April 2 decision to appoint five High Court judges and to promote to the Court of Appeals two judges without Karua's knowledge (Septel). The second was President Kibaki's public vote of confidence in the Chief Justice. Apollo Mboya, a Law Society of Kenya (LSK) official who spoke to Karua over the weekend, stated that she had accused Kenyatta, Saitoti, and Murungi as the prime conspirators against her in the Cabinet and also accused Gicheru of undermining her with Kibaki. The events enraged Karua, who felt that she had deserved better treatment after her staunch defense of President Kibaki during the electoral crisis last year. ¶6. (U) Karua announced over the weekend that she was considering resigning, touching off a round of consultations by her NARC-Kenya party and appeals by allies of President Kibaki for Karua to postpone her decision until Kibaki returned to Kenya. (Note: Kibaki is NAIROBI 00000706 002 OF 002 currently attending a gathering of the Common Market for South and East Africa heads of state. End Note.) Announcing her decision to resign, Karua stated that she would now be free to continue her fight for reform and called on all forces in and out of government to push for reforms (echoing the same call she made at the Annan conference in Geneva). She affirmed that she is still a candidate for the 2012 presidential election. COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) Karua's resignation positions her to be a major pro-reform voice, although she will not be uncritically accepted by civil society, given her strident support for Kibaki last year. While the most important pro-reform voice in the government is lost, her resignation intensified the spotlight on the coalition government's failure thus far to tackle the key issues related to the culture of impunity (accountability for post-election violence and credible steps against corruption). Her resignation will be seen by many as an indictment of the coalition government, but will also encourage increased pressure on the government to take more vigorous action on the reform agenda. Despite her temper and big ego, Karua is potentially a constructive force for reform, and we will remain in close touch with her. End Comment. RANNEBERGER