Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's impending impeachment sets stage for political upheaval. What's next for Kenya's power players?
Two more petitions were filed Monday bringing to 26 attempts in court by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who is seemingly running out of options, to block his Senate trial which opens on Wednesday.
It came on a day Chief Justice Martha Koome appointed a bench of three judges to determine six petitions challenging the impeachment of Mr Gachagua, even as the DP pleaded with the High Court to block the Senate from acting on the resolution of National Assembly endorsing his ouster.
Justice Koome appointed Judges Eric Ogola, Anthony Mrima and Dr Freda Mugambi to hear the six petitions, including one filed by Mr Gachagua.
Today (Tuesday) Justice Chacha Mwita will rule on Gachagua’s application to stop the Senate impeachment proceedings scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday when the final vote is scheduled.
On Monday, a fresh petition was filed before the High Court in Kiambu and another at Milimani High Court, adding to 24 other petitions that had been filed by last Friday.
In Kiambu on Monday, Justice Dorah Chepkwony , however, declined to grant any orders stopping the process or referring the case to the CJ for appointment of a bench. The case was filed by Bernard Wang’ombe.
On Monday, Mr Gachagua appealed to Justice Chacha Mwita to block senators from proceeding with the impeachment, pending the determination of his petition.
His lawyers led by Mr Muite and Tom Macharia argued that the impeachment process was flawed and that he was not afforded a fair hearing due to the limited timeframe.
Mr Muite stressed that the standing orders, which guided the impeachment process contravened the constitutional requirements of fair hearing and public participation.
He argued that the public participation window provided for was insufficient making the exercise a sham. This is because Kenyans were deprived of the opportunity to engage meaningfully in such a critical process, he said.
Massive discrepancies
The veteran lawyer added that there were massive discrepancies with the data collected from the constituencies and the tabulation presented in Parliament and what was presented before the MPs had no legal backing.
He said the entire exercise is a nullity as the Senate will be acting in vain. Justice Mwita will rule on the application today.
The Senate is expected to conduct a trial on October 16 and 17, on the 11 charges brought against Mr Gachagua, after members of the National Assembly voted in large numbers to endorse his removal as the Deputy President.
“For public participation to be meaningful, the DP should have been given an opportunity to respond on the 11 allegations before the questions were put to the public to respond,” Muite submitted
He said the process is questionable and it was a resounding no that it was fair and just.
In seeking conservatory orders, Mr Muite urged the court to temporarily halt the National Assembly's resolution and the Senate’s impeachment proceedings, allowing the court to thoroughly examine the significant issues raised in their main petition.
“We plead you grant us conservatory orders that you temporarily halt the resolution of the National Assembly and the impeachment in the Senate to afford the court the opportunity to interrogate the weighty issues at hand,” Muite told the judge.
On the question of public participation say under Articles 25 (C) and 50 of the constitution require everyone to be given a fair trial.
“Parliament exercising a quasi-judicial authority is compelled to ensure that the Deputy President got a fair hearing which he did not,” Muite said.
Meanwhile, Justice Chacha Mwita will rule on Tuesday morning whether the court will block Senate from acting on the resolution of the National Assembly, impeachment Mr Gachugua.
Speakers’ Moses Wetang’ula and Amason Kingi for National Assembly and Senate, respectively vehemently opposed the grant of temporary orders stopping the impeachment process.
Lawyers Paul Nyamondi, Benson Millimo, Eric Gumbo, Mercy Thanji and Peter Wanyama faulted Mr Gachagua's fresh petition saying it seeks a similar reliefs as those pending before three judges.
“The Deputy President has not proven that this petition shall be rendered nugatory if Senate is allowed to proceed with its constitutional mandate,” Ms Thanji said.
She added that it was is in the public interest for the Senate to determine whether Mr Gachagua was fit to hold a public office adding that the DP can still move to court once the Senate is done with the process.
Meanwhile, all the cases, touching on the impeachment process have been referred to Justice Ogola, the principal judge for directions.
In a ruling last Friday, high court agreed with Mr Gachagua’s lawyers led by Paul Muite that the issues raised in the six petitions were weighty constitutional matters.
“Considering the immense public interest this matter has generated and being the first of its kind in Kenya where the Deputy President of the Republic is being removed by process of impeachment, it is my considered opinion that this matter deserves the input of the Bench so as to pronounce itself on a process that is constitutionally compliant to serve as benchmarks for future undertakings of this nature,” Justice Mugambi ruled.
