Deputy President fails to block impeachment move

The High Court in Kenya has declined to temporarily stop Parliament from commencing the process of impeaching Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Former United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary-General Cleophas Malala yesterday rushed to court in a bid to stall the impeachment process, arguing that Parliament was illegally constituted over the failure to adhere to the gender rule, The Nation reports. However, High Court judge Bahati Mwamuye certified the case as urgent and directed parties to appear before him on 10 October for further directions. An impeachment motion against Gachagua may be introduced in Parliament this week after MPs pushing for his ouster said they had secured enough signatures endorsing the DP’s removal. The MPs pushing for Gachagua’s impeachment accuse him of, among others, gross violation of the Constitution, promoting ethnically divisive politics, undermining the President and having had a role in the anti-government uprising between June and July that saw Parliament overrun. Five politicians and an aide of  Gachagua went to court last week and obtained orders blocking their arrest and arraignment, after the Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga approved charges of conspiracy to commit a felony against them. 

USNews notes that the move could add to the government's challenges after deadly months-long protests over a disputed finance Bill forced Ruto to shelve the legislation in June and fire almost his entire Cabinet. ‘It is true there is an impeachment motion against the Deputy President and as the Member of Parliament for Kikuyu, I have already appended my signature to it,’ majority leader Kimani Ichung'wah said. ‘I will support that impeachment motion to stop a process where government is being undermined and sabotaged from within government,’ he said. In recent days Gachagua has spoken of being sidelined and denied accusations linking him and associates to the unrest, calling it ‘a futile attempt to soil my name and hopefully create grounds for the mooted impeachment proceedings against me.’ On Sunday, he told reporters: ‘Without the President's go-ahead, the motion cannot reach Parliament. If it reaches Parliament, it is the President who has authorised it.’ Gachagua commands support in Kenya's populous central region, and efforts to unseat him could stir up discontent there, adding to Ruto's headaches.

Full report in The Nation

Full US News report