Charity Ngilu

In Kenya's second ever multiparty elections held in 1992, Charity Ngilu pulled off a big surprise by capturing the Kitui central constituency seat on the Democratic Party ticket. In the December 1997 general election, she ran for the presidency and along with Wangari Maathai became the first ever female presidential candidates in Kenya. Ngilu then represented the Social Democratic Party of Kenya. She finished fifth. Later, she joined National Party of Kenya. In the December 2002 general election, her party was part of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). The coalition went on to win the elections, and President Mwai Kibaki appointed her as Minister of Health when he named his Cabinet on 3 January 2003. Ngilu was seen as a new school member in the government, as opposed to old school members like John Michuki and President Kibaki. She was also appointed NARC chairperson. However, she was left stranded after the Liberal Democratic Party left the coalition after the defeat of the Government-sponsored draft constitution, while most of the remaining NARC members founded the new Narc-Kenya party, though NARC is still officially the ruling party. She has been viewed as a flip flopper who could not decide whether she was in the government between 2003 and 2007 or against the government. On 31 July 2007, Ngilu took Ann Njogu, a protester, to a hospital after Njogu had allegedly been beaten by police. Ngilu was then accused of helping Njogu escape the police, and she was arrested on 2 August before being released on bail. She reported to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department on 3 August as she was ordered, but would not leave her car, saying that she should either be charged or released. Later on the same day the Nairobi High Court ruled that Ngilu's arrest was illegal, and she was allowed to leave. According to Ngilu's lawyer, she was not aiding an escape and Njogu was returned to the police by the hospital a day after she was taken there. On 5 October 2007, Ngilu announced her support for the Orange Democratic Movement and its presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, in the December 2007 general election; she has compared Odinga to Nelson Mandela. She initially said that she was remaining in the government, despite backing Kibaki's main rival. However, her dismissal from the government by Kibaki was announced on 6 October. Ngilu was re-elected to her seat from Kitui Central in the December 2007 parliamentary election. Kibaki won the presidential election according to official results, but this was disputed by the ODM, and a violent crisis developed. The crisis was eventually resolved with a power-sharing agreement, and in the grand coalition Cabinet named on 13 April 2008 and sworn in on 17 April, Ngilu was appointed as Minister of Water and Irrigation.

Ngilu showed support for Raila Odinga in running for Presidential bid in Kenyan elections 2013. But later changed her mind for launching her presidential bid on 2 September 2013 through her Narc Political Party.

On 16 January 2012 the Law Society of Kenya(LSK) identified Ngilu as one of the public officials have been mentioned adversely in various reports on issues ranging from corruption to economic crimes. The LSK advised voters not to vote those mentioned in the report as they had previously compromised. Ngilu's political future is now unclear after she overwhelmingly lost the famous Kitui County Senatorial post through a gruelling battle to David Musila.

In the recently concluded elections of 8th August 2017 she won the gubernatorial seat of Kitui County with David Masila coming second.

In November 2013, the 11th Kenyan parliament debated about her conduct as the cabinet secretary for Land, Housing and Urban Development. The parliament was acting on recommendations by a special committee whose mandate was to investigate how she appointed a new director-general at her ministry without involving the parliament as provided for in the constitution of Kenya.

Her husband, Michael Mwendwa Ngilu, died on 1 July 2006 in South Africa. Charity Ngilu has three children.