Martha Karua shares throwback photos as she reflects on her 20s ahead of 69th birthday

Martha Karua has taken her followers down memory lane with a throwback photo and a heartfelt reflection on the road that brought her here.

"September has always been a reflective month for me," she wrote. It is her birth month, she explained, and a reason to appreciate her journey.

As she prepares for "the big day", Karua says she will take her followers through a few decades of her life. She began with her 20s.

In the photo, three women sit side by side on a bench as they gulped milk in the nostalgic triangular shaped packaging.

In the grainy photo, the People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader sits in the centre with her legs crossed, one hand raised to her mouth with the sachet. She wears a white short-sleeved T-shirt with a purple "Glucolin" print and a light, pleated midi skirt, and was rocking an afro hairdo.

On her feet were flat flip-flops with blue and yellow trim, along with a wristwatch and a slim bangle. Her natural hair is neatly rounded.

In her message, Karua recalled becoming a magistrate at 24, "a responsibility and a title that felt significant at that age".

By her late twenties, Martha Karua had risen to Senior Resident Magistrate. She was also raising a young family as a single mother, with the support of her sister and family.

She wondered how as a young woman, she "managed to hold it all together" while fighting against a dictatorship and staying hopeful about the future.

Her advice to those in their twenties was to "give yourself grace".

She encouraged them to keep pushing against the tides in their way, and to trust that the life they are building will take shape "one step at a time".

One day, she said, they may realise they were "stronger, braver and further along" than they thought.

She closed with a toast: "Here's to the girl I was, and to all the young people still becoming."

The same fighting spirit has carried into her later years. Karua has represented Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu as he faces treason charges.

In May 2025, she landed at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam and was detained shortly after arrival. A later update said they were awaiting deportation after being denied entry.

Tanzania held its presidential election in October 2025, and political temperatures rose. Karua linked her detention to her interest in the case against Lissu.

"The common thread between Gloria Kimani, a council member of LSK, and Lynn Ngugi is that we are guests of EALS," she said.

Karua added, "I suspect all visitors who may be interested in the politically motivated case against Tundu Lissu are being denied entry."

The events have placed President Samia Suluhu under scrutiny. Rights groups have raised concerns that repressive regimes are taking root in the region, with similar concerns voiced about Uganda and Kenya.

Against that backdrop, Karua's closing line in her birthday post carries extra weight: "Here's to the girl I was, and to all the young people still becoming."