Rigathi Gachagua: Kenya’s first impeachment

Rigathi Gacgagua’s impeachment is first ever since the inception of the new constitution. The Senate only needed to find him guilty of one charge to remove him from office.
He is the first deputy president to be removed in this way since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s 2010 constitutional amendments. A similar motion against President William Ruto’s deputy was passed overwhelmingly by the lower house of parliament last week.
The Senate was thrown into chaos early Thursday after Gachagua was hospitalized with severe chest pains and failed to testify in his defence. The 11 charges, which Gachagua strongly denies, included corruption, insubordination, money laundering, subversion, ethnic divisive politics, intimidation of public servants and intimidation of judge
The Senate voted despite Gachagua’s absence due to illness. President Ruto’s allies have described him as dishonest and he should defend himself against the allegations, which he denies.
But after Gachagua failed to appear, his lawyer, Paul Muite, asked the Senate to halt the proceedings for a few days, saying the vice president was hospitalized with severe chest pains.
“The sad reality is that the vice president of the Republic of Kenya has fallen seriously ill,” Muite said.

Speaker Amason Kingi asked for the hearing to be postponed to Saturday, but senators voted against it.

“A no vote would be better,” Kingi said, as Gachagua’s lawyers walked out of the chamber in protest.
Ruto, who has had a falling out with Gachagua in recent months, has not commented on the lawsuit.

According to Karuti Kaninga, professor at the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Development Studies, the hearings examining Gachagua’s finances could have a boomerang effect on Ruto.
“You will hear people calling for the same thing to be done to the president as was done to Gachagua,” Kaninga said.
Gachagua has previously described the impeachment process as a political lynching based on lies.