Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has launched a desperate legal push to halt his looming impeachment by the Senate.
In a last-minute plea to suspend the impeachment process, Gachagua’s legal team on Friday requested Chief Justice Martha Koome to set up an urgent hearing of the case before Tuesday, ahead of the Senate's proceedings slated for Wednesday, October 16.
Gachagua's legal team is pushing for the empanelling of a bench by Chief Justice Martha Koome to hear the petition. They argue that without immediate intervention, the Senate will proceed with the impeachment process, rendering any further legal challenges moot.
In their letter to the Chief Justice, they pressed for urgency, stating that "the substratum of the petitions will cease to exist" once the Senate begins its proceedings.
But that’s not all. Gachagua is not leaving anything to chance. Despite sending a letter to CJ Koome, Gachagua filed a fresh petition submitted to the High Court seeking to block the Senate from considering the National Assembly's resolution to remove him from office.
The Deputy President’s team has been scrambling for favourable rulings since the impeachment vote was passed on Tuesday, with 281 MPs adopting 11 charges against him. These include accusations of gross misconduct, corruption, and divisive politics. Gachagua, however, maintains that the process was flawed, accusing Parliament of failing to conduct adequate public participation.
Through Senior Counsel Paul Muite, Gachagua has argued that the impeachment process was riddled with falsehoods and politically motivated attacks. He further claims that the National Assembly debated issues outside the motion's scope, including allegations of undermining President William Ruto, rather than focusing on constitutional breaches.
A High Court judge had previously granted a temporary conservatory order preventing the Senate from admitting, debating, or acting on the impeachment motion until the matter is resolved. However, the case must be heard next week to determine whether the Senate can proceed with the debate on Wednesday.
The crux of Gachagua’s argument is that the impeachment motion does not meet the threshold set by Article 145(1) of the Constitution, which outlines the grounds for removing a Deputy President. He claims that the public participation exercise, which is a constitutional requirement, was a mere formality, lacking genuine engagement with the citizenry.
Gachagua has also raised concerns about alleged intimidation of MPs during the impeachment vote. He insists that the process was conducted with undue haste to prevent judicial scrutiny. “The impeachment exercise was designed to please the President rather than examine constitutional violations,” Gachagua remarked, maintaining that the motion was politically driven rather than legally justified.
The High Court has since referred the case to Chief Justice Koome for the appointment of a bench to hear the constitutional issues at play. Several other petitions have been filed by Gachagua’s allies, challenging the legitimacy of the impeachment process and Parliament's ability to oversee such matters.
In his ruling, Justice Lawrence Mugambi agreed that the constitutional questions raised were significant enough to warrant a multi-judge bench. The petitions have attracted significant public interest, with many questioning whether the current legal framework allows for meaningful public participation in such a high-stakes process.
