Kenya’s deputy president asks court to halt his impeachment

Nairobi, October 3–Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Thursday filed a petition to the high court in Nairobi seeking to halt an impeachment process launched against him by lawmakers earlier this week, documents showed.

Allies of Kenyan President William Ruto tabled a motion in parliament on Tuesday to impeach Gachagua, accusing him of stirring ethnic hatred, undermining the government and amassing a large and unexplained property portfolio.

Gachagua says he has been sidelined and has denied accusations by Ruto allies that he was behind violent anti-government protests earlier this year.

Gachagua through his lawyers said the impeachment motion was based on falsehoods that constituted a “choreographed political lynching designed to defeat the sovereign will of the Kenyan people expressed at the presidential election held August 2022.

He also accused the National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula and Deputy, Gladys Shollei of bias for publicly declaring their stand on how they would prefer Gachagua’s impeachment to go. He accused the National assembly of allocating minimal time for public participation which is insufficient to facilitate any meaningful and reasonable public engagement.

The Deputy President contended that the motion to impeach him was politically orchestrated and designed to defeat the sovereignty will of the Kenya people.

Hailing from the populous Mount Kenya region, Gachagua helped mobilise a large voting bloc that helped Ruto win power, but the two have reportedly since fallen out.

The deputy president has become less influential since Ruto nominated members of the main opposition coalition to his government after protests in June and July against planned tax hikes in which more than 50 people were killed.

Ruto has not commented publicly on the impeachment proceedings and calls to his office this week were not answered.