The Kenyan Senate impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Thursday evening, regardless of a plea from Gachagua’s lawyer, Paul Muite, to postpone the proceedings on impeachment.
The senate speaker, Amason Kingi, stated that Gachagua had until 5 pm local time to show up. Still, according to his lawyer, Mr Gachagua was hospitalized after falling very sick hours before the vote was set to hold.
The lawmakers impeached the vice president after failure to show up for a hearing due to ill health and became the first deputy president to be impeached in Kenya’s history.
At least 53 senators voted in the first charge that impeached the deputy president on five counts out of 11 charges preferred against him.
The charges include ground one of shareholding, ground four of undermining the independence of judges, ground five of the National Cohesion and Integrity Act 4, ground six of crimes under the National Cohesion Act, and ground nine of gross misconduct (public attacks on the national security intelligence service).
In total, 281 MPs voted in favour of the ouster motion against 44, and one MP abstained from voting.
Recall that in June, Gachagua blamed the head of the intelligence agency for not properly briefing President William Ruto and the government over the magnitude of mass protests against unpopular tax hikes.
The vice president’s action was seen as an act of undermining the president.
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