Kenya’s National Assembly backs impeachment of VP Gachagua

281 Kenyan Mps voted on Tuesday night (Oct. 08) to impeach Rigathi Gachagua who had served as the country’s VP since the election of William Ruto in 2022.

44 Kenyan MPs voted against his destitution and 1 MP abstained.

Scenes of jubilation could be seen after the annoucement of the results of the impeachment motion.

Gachagua was accused of supporting historic anti-government protests in June and of being involved in corruption and other irregularities, has defended himself during a televised address and in Parliament.

Article 145 2A of the Constitution provides that “If a motion under clause 1 is supported by at least 2/3 of the National Assembly, the speaker shall inform the speaker of the Senate within two days,” speaker Moses Wetang’ula said.

If the Senate also backs the motion, Gachagua would become the first deputy president to be impeached since the new constitution was adopted in 2010.

Chapter 9 of the Constitution provides that the Deputy President may be removed from office under two scenarios :

(a) on the ground of physical or mental incapacity to perform the functions of the office;
or (b) on impeachment

The impeachement can happen on three grounds:

(i) a gross violation of a provision of this Constitution or any other law;
(ii) where there are serious reasons to believe that the Deputy President has committed a crime under national or international law;
or (iii) for gross misconduct.

Gachagua has defended his wealth acquisition on Monday (Oct. 07), saying some of the properties listed in the impeachment motion belonged to his late brother. He defended renovation expenditures for his official residence saying it was in a state of disrepair and needed to be “dignified.”

The fallout of Gachagua with President William Ruto was speculated upon for months. This move laid bare the dissension between the two men.

During unprecedent protests, Kenyans demanded president William Ruto step down.

Additional sources • AP

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