All you need to know about the 2022 presidential running mates
Presidential running mates in the 2022 General Election. From left: Ruth Mutua (Agano Party), Justina Wamae (Roots Party), Rigathi Gachagua (UDA) and Martha Karua (Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party).
Ruth Mucheru Mutua
Ruth Mucheru Mutua is David Mwaure Waihiga‘s running mate and a member of Agano Party.
Ms Mutua is a communications expert who until her nomination as the running mate was working at Telkom (Orange) as a sales administration manager.
She has also worked as a customer care representative across different companies.
Ruth Mutua, the Agano Party presidential running mate.
Ms Mutua began her education at State House Primary School and proceeded to Visa Oshwal Girls High School.
She later enrolled at the Kenya Institute of Business Training – Diploma in Logistics, Materials, and Supply chain management (2004-2005).
She holds a Bachelor's Degree, Communication and Sociology from the University of Nairobi.
Justina Wambui Wamae
Mrs Justina Wambui Wamae is a 35-year-old business lady turned politician who is the running mate of Prof George Wajackoyah of the Roots Party.
She was selected as the running mate after applying for the position using the CV she used in applying for a Principal Secretary position in the Jubilee administration after the 2017.
Ms Wamae was born and raised in Kibera slum and is the first born in a family of two siblings.
The 2007 post-election forced the family to move out of Kibera and settle at Syokimau.
Ms Wamae is married to Alex Kanyi whom she met during 2017 during the campaigns. They are blessed with a 3-year-old daughter.
Justina Wamae, Roots Party presidential running mate.
Education
Ms Wamae started school at Kilimani Primary School. She then proceeded to Limuru Girls High School for her secondary education between 2002 and 2005.
She then joined Daystar University, graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems.
In 2012, she graduated with a Diploma in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management from Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supplies UK.
In 2014, she graduated with a Master’s Degree in Purchasing and Logistics from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
Political Experience
Justina unsuccessfully contested for the Mavoko parliamentary seat in the 2017 General Election on an independent ticket, after failing to clinch the Jubilee nominations.
She was also the chair lady of the “Warembo na Uhuru” in the larger Machakos county during the 2017 elections.
Career
After clearing her KCSE, Justina worked briefly as a British Council exam invigilator at a salary of Sh10, 000 before landing an 8-month contract in the British Council.
She is the managing director of Finpro Association Limited, an organization critical in empowering youth-owned businesses.
She is also a senior manager in a construction company based in Utawala, Nairobi.
Rigathi Gachagua is the running mate of William Ruto of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance. He was born in 1965 in Hiriga village of Mathira Constituency, Nyeri County. He is the eighth born child.
His parents, Nahashon Gachagua Reriani and Martha Kirigo, were Mau Mau freedom fighters in Mt Kenya Forest where his father was building and servicing guns for the fighters.
He enrolled at Kabiruini Primary School from 1971 to 1977 before proceeding to Kianyaga High School for his O and A-levels.
In 1985, he joined the University of Nairobi where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Literature in 1988.
Rigathi had paramilitary training at Administration Police Institute in 1990.
He also studied Advanced Public Administration Course at the Kenya School of Government between 1999 and 2000.
At the University of Nairobi, Gachagua was the Nyeri District University Students Association (Ndusa) leader as well as the chairman of The Association of Literature Students.
Personal life
He is married to Dorcas Wanjiku Rigathi, who is a pastor based in Mathira, Nyeri County.
Deputy President William Ruto’s running mate Rigathi Gachagua.
Career
After graduating, Gachagua was employed for a short time at the Kenya's Ministry of Home Affairs and National Heritage before he joined Administration Police Institute in 1990.
After graduating from the Administration Police Institute, Gachagua was posted at the Office of the then President Daniel Arap Moi, as a District Officer Cadet between 1991 and 1992.
Gachagua then went on to serve as a District Officer in Kakamega, Ng’arua and Laikipia districts.
Between 1999 and 2000, he joined Kenya School of Government where he graduated with a Diploma in Advanced Public Administration. Between 2001 and 2006, Gachagua then worked as the Personal Assistant to Uhuru Kenyatta.
Between 2007 and 2017, Gachagua remained behind the scenes running his businesses.
Also Read: William Ruto names running mate
Political career
Gachagua was elected as a Kenyan member of parliament for Mathira constituency in 2017 on a Jubilee ticket.
In that race, he had edged out Phyllis Wambura Maranga who had claimed she had been rigged out of the Jubilee Party primaries.
Controversies
Rigathi is facing a graft case and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has applied to freeze some of his bank accounts.
Martha Wangari Karua is the eunning mate to Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party residential candidate Raila Odinga.
She was born on September 22, 1957, is a long-standing former Member of Parliament for Gichugu Constituency and an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
She was Minister for Justice AND Constitutional Affairs from 2008 until resigning from that position in April 2009.
She ran for president in 2013 under the Narc-Kenya party ticket, making her the third woman to run for the highest office, after Charity Ngilu and Wangari Maathai in the 1997 General Election. She emerged sixth in the race.
Early life and education
Ms Karua is the daughter of Jackson Karua and Josephine Wanjiru. She was brought up in of Kimunye in Kirinyaga as the second child in a family of eight, four girls and four boys.
She attended Mugumo Primary School, Kabare Girls Boarding School, and St Michael’s Boarding School, Keruguya.
She then proceeded to Kiburia Girls Secondary School, Ngiriambu Girl’s Secondary School, and Karoti Girl’s Secondary School where sat for her East African School Certificate.
She then attended Nairobi Girl’s Secondary School for her A-levels. She studied law at the University of Nairobi from 1977 to 1980.
Between 1980 and 1981 she was enrolled at the Kenya School of Law for the statutory postgraduate law course.
Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party presidential running mate Martha Karua.
Legal career
After graduating, from 1981 to 1987, Karua worked as a magistrate in various courts including those at Makadara, Nakuru and Kibera, receiving credit for careful discernment.
In 1987, she left the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to start her own law firm, Martha Karua & Co. Advocates, which she ran until 2002.
Cases she handled include the treason trial of Koigi Wamwere and that of former Member of Parliament Mirugi Kariuki.
At the risk of being blacklisted by the Moi government, she defended several human rights activists.
Also Read: What Martha Karua choice means to Raila
Political career
1990 – 2002
Karua was a member of the opposition political movements that successfully agitated for the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in Kenya in the early 1990s.
Karua joined Kenneth Matiba's Ford-Asili party. She walked out of the party leadership elections which she regarded as compromised in September 1992 leaving her sole opponent Geoffrrey Karekia Kariithi to be declared winner.
She joined the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP) where she won the party nominations/ticket in November 1992 and proceeded to win the election as Gichugu MP in December 1992 against the incumbent Geoffrrey Karekia Kariithi. Her win freed Gichugu constituents from the Kareithi – Nahashon Njuno rivalry.
Ms Karua became the first woman lawyer to be popularly elected to Parliament. She was later elected as the DP’s legal affairs secretary in 1993.
In 1998, Karua declined the position of DP’s Shadow Minister for Culture and Social Services which conflicted with her position of National Secretary for Constitutional Affairs (an elected office) that made her the official spokesperson on legal matters of the party. She opted to resign her position as the National Secretary for legal and constitutional Affairs.
In 2001, when the Constitutional Review Bill was laid before the House, the entire opposition, with the exception of Karua, walked out of Parliament.
The Bill had been rejected by the Opposition as well as Civil Society but Karua was of the view that as elected representatives, instead of walking out, it would be more prudent to remain in Parliament and put the objections on record. She therefore chose to remain in the Parliament and her objections to the Bill were duly recorded in the Hansard.
2003 to 2009
Ms Karua served as the Minister of Water Resources Management & Development during Kibaki’s first term, and was behind the implementation of the Water Act 2002, which has since then accelerated the pace of water reforms and service provision in Kenya.
Ms Karua remained in cabinet as the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister appointed by then President Kibaki on January 8, 2008, following the controversial December 2007 election.
Karua headed the government's team in negotiations with the opposition regarding the political dispute that resulted from the election.
The political crisis eventually led to the signing of a power-sharing agreement between President Kibaki and ODM’s Raila Odinga. In the grand coalition cabinet that was announced on April 13, 2008, Ms Karua remained in her post as Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs.
She was endorsed as the national chairperson of the NARC-Kenya political party on November 15, 2008.
Karua resigned as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs on April 6, 2009, citing frustrations in discharging her duties. A clear example of her frustrations was when then President Mwai Kibaki appointed judges without her knowledge. She was the first minister to resign voluntarily since 2003.
2013 to 2021
Ms Karua contested the 2013 Kenyan presidential election, under the NARC Kenya party ticket. She came in sixth with 43,881 votes in a contested election outcome.
Martha Karua made a come-back in Kenya's political scene in the 2017 General Election as she contested the Kirinyaga Gubernatorial seat.
She lost to the current Governor Anne Waiguru in a heavily contested election after garnering 122, 091 votes against Ms Waiguru's 161,373 votes.
Karua contested the election citing irregularities and filed a petition at the High Court seeking to have Waiguru's election nullified but lost the petitions at the High court, Court of Appeal and ultimately at the Supreme Court. Karua proceeded to file a petition in the East African Court of Justice suing Kenya government for failure of its judicial arm to dispense justice in the petition.
On September 20, 2021, the Senior Counsel was unanimously elected as the Interim Mount Kenya Unity Forum Spokesperson by a section of leaders from Central Kenya.
Controversies
In December 2015 Karua admitted to receiving a Sh2 million "donation" to her presidential campaign costs from British American Tobacco.
Ms Karua said that she thought that the contribution by Paul Hopkins, a BAT employee, was a personal donation. The money was paid via Mary M'Mukindia who was running Karua's campaign.
Ms Karua has insisted on an image untainted by corruption save for the report of the donation of alleged tainted money.
No culpability has been proven and the British investigations concluded without any charges against Paul Hopkins.
Ms Karua has maintained that she cannot be corrupted and invited Kenyan authorities to investigate any alleged wrong doing.
