The Senate was the setting of a historic legal battle as the impeachment trial against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua kicked off on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, it appeared as though the Deputy President was set for a rocky ride as Senate Speaker Amason Kingi dismissed Gachagua's legal team request to have Siaya Governor James Orengo blocked from representing the National Assembly on the basis that he is a state officer.
“He is a full-time serving State officer and is legally barred from engaging in meaningful employment. It will be prejudicial to our client if this House were to allow Orengo to represent the National Assembly in these proceedings.”
However, speaker Amason Kingi dismissed this saying, “It is trite law that he who asserts must prove. In this regard, I wish to observe that the Learned Counsel for the Deputy President did not adduce evidence to prove indeed and demonstrate the allegation of gainful employment.”
Subsequently, Gachagua’s legal team also objected to the National Assembly’s request to have senior officials in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) summoned to testify saying the request would irredeemably prejudice the trial against the Deputy President.
“Why were these allegations, suspicions or conclusions on matters touching on money laundering against the Deputy President never referred to EACC or DCI?” Senior Counsel Paul Muite asked.
Muite, who is leading Gachagua's legal team made these remarks after Senate Speaker Amason Kingi accepted the request by the National Assembly to have the EACC chief Executive Officer Twalib Mbarak summoned to appear before the trial to shed light on some of the allegations leveled against the DP.
Despite this presumably shaky start, the legal team comprising; Tom Macharia, Ndegwa Njiru and Elisha Ongoya, shone in cross-examination fielding hard-hitting questions to both the mover of the motion, Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse and the Acting Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) CEO Dr. Andrew Mulwa.
The MP found himself in the defense as he sometimes struggled to answer the interrogation questions challenging the 11 counts that the deputy president is facing.
One of the most memorable moments during the tense cross-examination was when Mutuse was tasked to answer questions regarding shares allegedly owned by Rigathi Gachagua in the Vipingo Beach Company.
“It may be getting hotter but look at the document, compose yourself, and read. What is the total number of shares in Vipingo Beach Company?” Ongoya quipped. This was one of the companies that was purported to have been owned by the DP in the impeachment motion. Needless to say, by the end of that vein of questioning, Mutuse admitted that all 10,000 shares of the company were owned by the late Nderitu Gachagua.
He was also questioned on Gachagua’s alleged tribalism by using the term ‘Mlima’ to refer to the Mount Kenya people by lawyer Tom Macharia who asked, “So Mlima is a tribe? Do all those 10 counties have one tribe?” He received the obvious answer was “no” thereby challenging the tribalism claims.
On matters concerning the DP's shareholding remarks and referring to the government as a company, the defence countered by playing similar clips of the president making claims of the same nature. They questioned if it was not imperative for the deputy president to back what the president was on record stating.
Dr. Mulwa also faced a tough time on the interrogation dock where he faced questions regarding his involvement in the Shubika Company tender for mosquito nets with the most memorable moment from that interrogation being his refusal to answer Ndegwa Njiru’s question, “Have you seen anything that indicates that the DP interfered with the process of maintaining autonomy at KEMSA?” Saying that he could not own or disown statements he did not make.
Njiru also raised discrepancies in Mulwa’s involvement in the tender process noting he was not the KEMSA CEO at the time when the the tender process began but only joined after the process had been terminated.
“Therefore, the issues you are testifying to before the Assembly are issues that you saw perceived or they were issues that you were told? It’s a simple question,” Njiru asked.
“I was not told neither did I see,” was Dr Mulwa’s response.
Kenyans on social media were quick to react to the developments with some questioning the preparedness of the witnesses.
Meanwhile, the Senate is set to reconvene on Thursday at 9:00am on the last day of the hearing.
