Kenyan lawmakers on Tuesday voted to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for abuse of office in an unprecedented political drama that has transfixed the nation.
The impeachment motion accused the 59-year-old deputy to President William Ruto of corruption, insubordination, undermining the government and practising ethnically divisive politics, among a host of other charges.
In a historic move, the motion — the culmination of months of open conflict between Gachagua and his boss — was approved by 281 MPs in the 349-member National Assembly, more than the two-thirds required.
There were 44 votes against and one abstention, according to parliament speaker Moses Wetangula.
The motion will now proceed to the upper-house Senate and if approved there, Gachagua would become the first deputy president to be removed from office in this way since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s revised 2010 constitution.
Armed with a 500-page dossier, the scandal-tainted politician had taken to the floor of the lower house during a sometimes heated 12-hour parliamentary session to reject the charges against him strenuously.
At a press conference on Monday, he had branded the motion as “outrageous” and “sheer propaganda”, calling it a plot to hound him out of office.
Gachagua, a powerful businessman from Kenya’s biggest tribe, the Kikuyu, weathered previous corruption scandals to become deputy leader as Ruto’s running mate in a closely fought election in August 2022.
But in recent weeks, he has complained of being sidelined by the president and had been accused of supporting youth-led anti-government protests that broke out in June.
Political tensions have been running high since the sometimes deadly demonstrations erupted over unpopular tax hikes, exposing divisions in the top echelons of power — with Gachagua admitting the motion could not have gone ahead without Ruto’s approval.
– ‘Fight to the end’ –
The feud echoes the public falling out between then-president Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy Ruto before the 2022 election.
Several MPs allied with Gachagua were summoned by police last month, accused of funding the protests.
No formal charges have been lodged by prosecutors and no judicial inquiry has been opened against Gachagua.
But lawmakers gave 11 grounds for impeachment, including accusations that he amassed assets worth 5.2 billion shillings ($40 million) since the last election, despite an annual salary of just $93,000.
Among the listed assets was Kenya’s renowned Treetops Hotel, where Britain’s then-Princess Elizabeth was staying as she became queen.
Gachagua says his wealth has come entirely through legitimate business deals and an inheritance from his late brother.
He has warned his removal would stir discontent among his supporters, and insisted on the eve of the vote he would not resign.
“I will fight to the end,” he said.
– ‘Lacks political patience’ –
Kenyan lawmakers initiated the impeachment process on October 1, with 291 members of parliament backing the motion, well beyond the 117 minimum required.
Following Tuesday’s vote, the upper-house Senate must sit within a week of receiving the impeachment and will then have 10 days to deal with the motion, including allowing Gachagua to cross-examine the evidence.
It will require the support of at least two-thirds of senators to pass.
The impeachment can however be appealed through the courts.
Dismas Mokua, a Nairobi-based political risk analyst, told AFP that Gachagua had assumed he would co-lead with Ruto.
“He lacked the strategic political patience needed for the role, succumbing to the same fate as other deputies or vice presidents who sought quick, ‘instant coffee’ solutions,” he said.
While his potential impeachment was unlikely to cause organic protests, Mokua warned that “the probability of orchestrated unrest is very high”.
In 1989, then-vice president Josephat Karanja resigned from office when faced with a similar push for dismissal in parliament.
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