Happening Now: Earthwise Summit 2024
Gachagua impeachment: DP makes last minute court dash to stop ouster
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
In a last-minute dash to slow down his looming removal from office, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has asked the High Court to stop Parliament from debating the motion for his impeachment, arguing that the same is unconstitutional and based on lies.
In the 144-page petition filed in Nairobi on Thursday, Mr Gachagua also wants the court to halt planned participation on his impeachment until proper mechanisms are put in place in accordance with the law.
He alleges that the impeachment motion, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, is a total breach of his constitutional rights, and that he is a victim of political lynching.
"The intended impeachment process against me essentially seeks to overturn the sovereign will of the majority of people of Kenya who voted for me to be the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya," Mr Gachagua says.
He adds that the motion tabled by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse is based “on frivolous grounds which do not meet the lawful test, which justifies an impeachment.”
The DP contends that impeachment is a very serious undertaking that should be conducted in accordance with the strict dictates and provisions of the Constitution and parliamentary rules of procedure.
While seeking to stop public participation, Mr Gachagua says that, as currently planned, only a few people would participate in the event to give views on whether he should be removed from office or not.
"The physical public participation forums are scheduled to be held at one location per county which, on account of prohibitive travel expenses and geographical distance, will shut out a vast majority of Kenyans who are entitled to participate in this critical process being undertaken for the first time in Kenya’s history and affects the sovereign rights of the 14.1 million Kenyans who participated in the 2022 presidential election in which the Petitioner was elected Deputy President by 7,176,141 Kenyans," Mr Gachagua says in the petition.
