Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was dealt a blow on Tuesday, October 8, as his worst fears were confirmed after 281 members of the National Assembly voted to impeach him. Only 44 defended the embattled DP.
In a process that officially got rolling on October 1 courtesy of Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse, a motion which listed 11 grounds for impeachment was tabled before the National Assembly for MPs to scrutinise.
With the number of MPs who voted surpassing 233 MPs, the threshold required to vote in favour of the impeachment motion, the odds were crucially against Gachagua, who has consistently claimed that the impeachment motion was a political witchhunt against him from his adversaries in government.
Gachagua's chances of coming out on top at the National Assembly were always slim, and with more than two-thirds of Members of Parliament voting in favour of the impeachment motion, Gachagua is treading extremely thin ice, but the impeachment process is not a done deal - at least not yet.
The approval has now paved the way for the motion to transition to the Senate - which now holds the key to the DP's fate.
Immediately after the impeachment, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula directed the clerk to prepare the necessary documentation and present it to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi
Kingi will then convene a Senate meeting in seven days to determine the charges leveled against the DP.
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi already hinted at the Senate's readiness to handle the matter earlier today noting, “The Senate, being the trial chamber, will be sitting as a quasi-judicial body to hear and determine the Deputy President's matter."
The Senate will then discuss the motion, after which they will decide whether there are enough grounds to impeach the Deputy President.
Gachagua cannot afford an impeachment, as it would effectively mean his short political career will have come to an end, permanently. As per the Constitution, an impeached public officer is ineligible to hold public office in the future, and the individual will also lose his retirement perks.
Interestingly, during his televised briefing on Monday, October 7, Gachagua specifically pointed a finger at Kingi and his counterpart, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, for allegedly being beneficiaries of an agreement signed before the 2022 General Election.
"In accordance with article 8 of the agreement, PAA would be allocated Speaker of the Senate; he negotiated for himself," Gachagua alleged.
"Let's be truthful. You brought this motion, and we'll discuss it. The people of Kenya must know the truth because if Rigathi Gachagua is being crucified for being truthful, let the people of Kenya know why he's being crucified," the DP sensationally claimed.
