EXPLAINED: What’s Next For Rigathi Gachagua After MPs Approved Impeachment Motion?
On Tuesday, October 8, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s worst fears were confirmed when 281 National Assembly members voted to impeach him. Only 44 people defended the embattled DP.
On October 1, Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse tabled a motion before the National Assembly outlining 11 grounds for impeachment for MPs to consider.
The number of MPs who voted exceeded the 233-member threshold for supporting the impeachment motion.
The odds were stacked against Gachagua, who has consistently claimed that the impeachment motion was a political witchhunt by his opponents in government.
Gachagua’s chances of winning at the National Assembly were always slim.
With more than two-thirds of Members of Parliament voting in favor of the impeachment motion, Gachagua is on very thin ice, but the impeachment process is not over – at least not yet.
The approval now allows the motion to proceed to the Senate, which holds the key to the DP’s fate.
Immediately following the impeachment, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula directed the clerk to prepare the necessary documentation and deliver it to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi.
Kingi will then call a Senate meeting in seven days to determine the charges brought against the DP.
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has already hinted on Tuesday at the Senate’s readiness to handle the matter.
“The Senate, being the trial chamber, will be sitting as a quasi-judicial body to hear and determine the Deputy President’s matter.”
The Senate will then discuss the motion and decide whether there are sufficient grounds to impeach the Deputy President.
Gachagua cannot afford to be impeached because it would effectively end his short political career.
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According to the Constitution, an impeached public officer is ineligible to hold public office in the future, and the individual also loses his retirement benefits.
Interestingly, during his televised briefing on Monday, October 7, Gachagua specifically targeted Kingi and his counterpart, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, for allegedly benefiting from an agreement reached prior to the 2022 General Election.
Speaker Amason Kingi who is fighting me, negotiated for the Senate speaker shares. He got his share. — Rigathi Gachagua pic.twitter.com/0YntukEoVw
— Abdulahi Adan (@AbdulahiAdan10) October 7, 2024
“In accordance with article 8 of the agreement, PAA would be allocated Speaker of the Senate; he negotiated for himself,” Gachagua alleged.
“Let’s be truthful. You brought this motion, and we’ll discuss it. The people of Kenya must know the truth because if Rigathi Gachagua is being crucified for being truthful, let the people of Kenya know why he’s being crucified,” the DP sensationally claimed.
EXPLAINED: What’s Next For Rigathi Gachagua After MPs Approved Impeachment Motion?
