Rosemary Machua Kariuki has been with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) for more than 6 years now, having joined the party in the run-up to the 2013 general elections.
According to the party's website, Rosemary Kariuki is the director of the ODM party membership services, the second tier position after that of the party's executive director Oduor Ong’wen.
What many might not know about the ODM executive is that she is the daughter to the firebrand politician Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, who met his death in 1975 in unclear circumstances.
Reports from the Standard in December 2014 indicate that Kariuki was the one responsible for a full-page advert in the local dailies endorsing Raila's stab at the presidency, and also spent a big chunk of her time working with Friends of Raila Odinga (FORA) before the 2013 elections.
She told the publication that her forays in politics were not by design but by a fluke when she embarked on helping her husband, John Waithaka Machua, who was vying for the Makadara parliamentary seat on a Kanu ticket in 1992.
“I felt a thrill going through the process. I told him this is nice, I would like to try this someday, and he was like good luck to you!” she revealed.
She stated that years later, she was launching her book on the 2008 elections and she needed a guest of honour to attend the ceremony.
She wrote to the leaders in the grand coalition government with a view to having one of them grace the launch, and Raila offered his presence on the date.
"I said, whoever calls me first would be where I belong. Kibaki did not respond to my invitation immediately but Raila called and told me that he was willing to launch my book. That is how my relationship with Raila blossomed," she told The Standard.
Her support for the ODM leader, however, has not come without a cost to her family.
She revealed then that her husband lost out at the TNA party nominations in 2013 due to her affiliation with Raila.
“They shot him down by saying his wife was a Raila supporter. He lost the TNA primaries and lost the seat while running on a Jubilee alliance party in the General Election. It was a difficult time for my family,” she was quoted.
Kariuki, apart from her roles in ODM, is the Vice-Chairperson for the National Victims and Survivors Network, and the Founding Secretary for the JM Kariuki Peace and Justice Foundation.
