Kenya deputy president ousted in historic impeachment

Security officers patrol at the front of the Senate precincts during the start of the impeachment trial of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in Nirobi on October 16 2024. In a historic move last week, the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, voted overwhelmingly to impeach Gachagua on 11 charges including corruption and abuse of office. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)

(AFP) - Kenya's Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was ousted from office on Thursday after being impeached in an unprecedented political saga that has gripped the nation.

In a historic move, the Senate voted to impeach Gachagua on five of 11 charges, after a similar motion was overwhelmingly approved by the lower house National Assembly last week.

The vote capped a day of high drama which saw the embattled 59-year-old known as "Riggy G" fail to testify in his defence after being admitted to hospital with severe chest pains.

He is the first deputy president to be sacked in this manner since impeachment was introduced in Kenya's revised 2010 constitution.

His downfall is the culmination of a bitter falling out with President William Ruto, who he helped win a 2022 election by rallying support from the vote-rich Mount Kenya region.

"The Senate has resolved to remove from office, by impeachment, his excellency Rigathi Gachagua, the deputy president of the Republic of Kenya," Senate speaker Amason Kingi said after the vote.

"Accordingly his excellency Rigathi Gachagua ceases to hold office."

Gachagua was found guilty on charges of "gross violation" of the constitution, including threatening judges and practising ethnically divisive politics, but cleared of others including corruption and money-laundering.

Gachagua had denied all allegations against him as "nonsensical" and "outrageous" and claimed he was being treated like a "spent cartridge".

- Lawyers walk out -

The process has created a mood of political uncertainty in a country regarded as a stable democracy in the volatile East Africa region.

While his fate was being determined in parliament, Gachagua underwent tests in hospital in the Nairobi suburb of Karen.

"He came in with a lot of chest pain," Karen Hospital's chief cardiologist Dan Gikonyo told reporters, adding that Gachagua was in a stable condition but would remain in hospital for at least 48-72 hours.

The Senate's decision not to postpone its hearing after Gachagua fell ill prompted his lawyers to walk out in protest. They argued that he had a constitutional right to testify in his defence.

No criminal proceedings have been launched against him, and Gachagua could fight his impeachment in the courts now the parliamentary process is completed.

The 349-member National Assembly had voted by an overwelming 282 votes on October 8 to impeach him, more than the two-thirds required.

Unlike the process in the lower house, where MPs delivered their verdict on the entire motion, senators needed to back just one charge, by at least two-thirds of the votes, for the impeachment to succeed.

The Senate trial went ahead after Gachagua failed in multiple court challenges to halt the process, the last one just hours before the Senate trial began on Wednesday.

Ruto had not made any public comment on the impeachment, but Gachagua has said the process could not have gone ahead without his boss's blessing.

"This is what we call political deceit, conmanship and betrayal," Gachagua had said of the process, insisting that it violated the will of Kenyans who voted for the Ruto-Gachagua ticket in the 2022 election.

- 'Maintain peace' -

Ruto has 14 days to choose a new deputy, but could nominate someone as early as Friday.

Among the names of possible successors floated by the Kenyan media are Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, Foreign Minister and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and a county governor, Anne Waiguru.

A powerful businessman from Kenya's biggest tribe, the Kikuyu, Gachagua had weathered previous corruption scandals to become deputy leader as Ruto's running mate in the tightly fought 2022 election.

But in recent weeks, he had complained of being sidelined by the president, while also being accused of supporting youth-led anti-government protests that broke out in June.

Political tensions have run high since the sometimes deadly demonstrations erupted over unpopular tax hikes, exposing divisions in the top echelons of power and the ruling party.

Addressing churchgoers in his central Kenya sstronghold on Sunday, Gachagua had nevertheless called on his supporters to remain calm.

"Let's preach and maintain peace irrespective of the outcome. Kenya is our country," he said.

© Agence France-Presse