Kenyan Senate Impeaches Deputy President

Kenyan Senate Impeaches Deputy President

The Kenyan Senate has voted to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. The decision was made on Thursday evening, despite a request from Gachagua’s lawyer, Paul Muite, to postpone the proceedings due to Gachagua’s hospitalization after falling seriously ill just hours before the vote.

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi had given Gachagua until 5 PM local time to attend the hearing. However, due to his health issues, the Deputy President was unable to be present, leading to his impeachment. Gachagua, at 59, is now the first Deputy President in Kenya’s history to be impeached.

At least 53 senators supported the first charge against him. Gachagua faced a total of 11 charges but was impeached on five counts, which included issues related to shareholding, undermining judicial independence, violations of the National Cohesion and Integrity Act, crimes under the National Cohesion Act, and gross misconduct through public attacks on the national security intelligence service.

In June, Gachagua had publicly criticized the head of the intelligence agency for failing to adequately inform President William Ruto and the government about the scale of mass protests against unpopular tax increases, an action interpreted as undermining the President’s authority.

In total, 281 Members of Parliament voted in favor of the impeachment motion, while 44 opposed it, and one MP abstained from voting.