Court Refuses To Stop Public Participation On Gachagua Impeachment Motion

UPDATE: Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has suffered a blow after the High Court declined to stop Friday’s public participation on a motion before the National Assembly seeking to impeach him.

Even though the court certified the petition as urgent, the parties were directed to appear before it on October 10 for further directions on the matter.

“The Application dated 02/10/2024 shall be mentioned on 09/10/2024 virtually to confirm compliance and to take directions on the expedited hearing and determination of the matter,” read the court papers, adding “The Court may on that day issue such interim conservatory orders or further directions as shall be deemed just, fit, and proper to issue pending the hearing and determination of the matter.”

This is after Gachagua filed an urgent application in court seeking orders to stop the exercise, citing a lack of legislative procedure.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has filed a petition at the High Court in his latest move to stop an impeachment motion against him lodged in the National Assembly from sailing through successfully.

In the petition filed at the Milimani Law Courts, Gachagua on Thursday, October 3 claimed that the motion had contained a collection of falsehoods and misrepresentations of facts aimed at influencing the public against him.

The deputy president claimed that the charges accusing him of accumulating wealth valued at Ksh5.2 billion had the goal of soiling his reputation.

"I verily believe that the motion to impeach me is entirely founded on falsehoods, outright lies, deceit, misrepresentations and suppression of material facts which have been peddled to the public so as to achieve the collateral, improper and unconstitutional purpose of a choreographed political lynching designed to defeat the sovereign will of the Kenyan people expressed at the presidential election held in August 2022 and prematurely end, for all time, my long and productive career as a public servant," reads part of the petition Gachagua filed through his lawyers.

"For instance, the motion, at Ground 7 at page 17, falsely and sensationally alleges that I have “ inexplicably amassed a humongous property portfolio estimated at Kshs 5.2 billion” so as to unlawfully prejudice my reputation and standing with the public and my family."

He went on to accuse National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and Deputy, Gladys Shollei of bias for openly declaring their stance on the trajectory the motion would take.

The second in command also accused the National Assembly of allocating minimal time for public participation which he termed as grossly insufficient to facilitate any meaningful and reasonable public engagement.

In his plea to the court, the deputy president sought an order prohibiting the National Assembly from processing, passing, and transmitting to the Senate any resolution made from the motion filed on September 26.

Gachagua's petition now adds to three petitions which were filed at the High Court in the hope of putting a stop to the impeachment motion, but all of them were thrown away, thus leaving room for the motion to be tabled in the August House.

The third petition on September 30 sought to stop Gachagua's impeachment was filed by a Kenyan against the Senate and National Assembly, but a 3-judge bench of the Constitutional Division of the High Court declined to issue interim orders, directing the parties, however, to appear before it on October 10 for mention.

In the second one, a lobby group moved to court to stop the impeachment that was eventually tabled before Parliament on Tuesday, October 1.