Charles Karuga Koinange was the second son of Koinange Wa Mbiyu, a leading colonial African chief among the Kikuyu people of Central Kenya.
Charles Karuga Koinange civil service career began in 1951 and ended in 1980.
This district had formerly been overseen by his father, Koinange Wa Mbiyu, from c. 1920 to 1939.
During Charles Karuga's tenure as chief, his father was detained, first in Marsabit and then in Kapenguria as, according to the colonial government, a leader of the Mau Mau Rebellion of the early 1950s.
In the early 1980s, Charles Karuga served as chairman of the Kenya Tea Development Authority.