Kenya’s Senate set to vote on deputy president’s impeachment on Thursday

Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addressing legislators ahead of the lawmakers’ vote over his impeachment motion at the Parliament

Nairobi, October 15 — The Senate in Kenya is set to debate on Wednesday and Thursday on whether to impeach the Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, from office or not.

The Senate’s debate on Gachagua’s impeachment, follows a decline by Kenya’s High Court Tuesday October 15 to stop the Senate to vote on Deputy President’s impeachment from going ahead.

Justice Chacha Mwita referred the case to the chief justice to appoint a panel of judges to make a final determination.

Last week Kenya’s parliament voted to impeach Gachagua for allegedly stirring ethnic hatred, embezzlement and undermining the government, paving the way for the Senate to debate whether to remove him from office.

Gachagua has said the impeachment motion was based on falsehoods that constituted a “political lynching”, according to court documents.

The deputy president backed President William Ruto in his 2022 election win and helped secure a large block of votes from the populous central Kenya region.

But in recent months he has spoken of being frozen out, and there have been local news reports of a rift emerging with Ruto as political alliances have shifted.

Ruto fired most of his cabinet and included members of the opposition in his cabinet after nationwide protests against tax increases in which more than 50 people were killed.

The president has not commented publicly on the impeachment proceedings against Gachagua.