KENYAN PARLIAMENT IMPEACHES DEPUTY PRESIDENT RIGATHI GACHAGUA

Raymomd Jumah, Kenya

Kenyan members of parliament voted to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for alleged corruption and undermining the government, among other things.  281 members have voted to impeach the Deputy President with 1 abstention and 44 votes against the bill.

The MPs have listed 11 grounds for impeachment, but prosecutors have not formally charged Gachagua, and no judicial inquiry has been opened against him.

Gachagua rejected the allegations and defended himself in parliament on Tuesday afternoon. The upper house, the Senate, will be asked to uphold the motion by the same margin.

“I am innocent of all these charges,” he said in a televised speech late on Monday as he denied in detail the allegations that include amassing a large unexplained property portfolio and promoting “ethnic balkanisation”.

“I have no intention whatsoever to resign from this job. I will fight to the end,” Gachagua added.

Lawmakers launched the impeachment process on October 1, with 291 MPs signing up to the motion, well beyond the 117 minimum required.

Gachagua backed President William Ruto in his 2022 election win and helped secure a large block of votes from the populous Mount Kenya region.

The deputy president says he has since been sidelined, amid widespread reports in local media that he has fallen out with Ruto as political alliances have shifted.