A three-judge bench of the High Court in Nairobi on Thursday dismissed an application filed by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s lawyers seeking to postpone his impeachment case by 21 days.
Gachagua’s lawyers had applied to the three-judge bench led by Justice Eric Ogolla urging the court to grant them three weeks to amend the petition challenging the former DP’s dismissal from office.
The lawyers also demanded the adjournment to allow for the hearing and determination of a similar case which is currently at the Court of Appeal which challenged the empanelment of the three-judge bench.
However, the judges dismissed Gachagua’s plea, noting that the matter currently before the High Court was supposed to be heard and disposed of promptly.
“This prayer is a camouflaged application for stay of proceedings which this court heard and dismissed,” Justice Eric Ogolla ruled.
Before the ruling, the lawyers representing the National Assembly urged the court to dismiss Gachagua’s application, noting that the case required a speedy conclusion.
According to the government lawyers, the petition was a matter of national interest and it was filed last year in October under a certificate of urgency and thus required a quick response.
During the court proceedings, the National Assembly lawyers accused Gachagua’s team of attempting to politicise the hearing by making frequent applications for adjournment.
“We cannot politicise the judicial processes. We cannot be coming to court every day for adjournments,” argued Senior Counsel Tom Ojienda.
Despite dismissing the application, the judges noted that they were ready to adjourn the hearing for 21 days only if they received an application from the Court of Appeal.
“That at any point in the proceeding, shou; we are served with an order for stay of the proceedings we will at that point down our tools,” Justice Ogolla noted.
Gachagua's impeachment case was adjourned in November last year to allow the former deputy president to challenge the empanelment of the three-judge bench of the High Court.
In his appeal, Gachagua argued that Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu lacked the legal authority to appoint a three-judge bench to hear the case.
