Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua Impeached in Historic Senate Vote
The Kenyan Senate has voted to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, marking the first time a deputy president has been removed from office since the country’s 2010 constitutional reforms. The dramatic vote took place during a tense session on Thursday, with Gachagua found guilty on five of the 11 charges brought against him, including corruption, money laundering, ethnic divisiveness, insubordination, and undermining the government.
The Senate’s conviction of the 59-year-old deputy president followed a similar vote by the National Assembly last week, where lawmakers overwhelmingly backed his impeachment. Gachagua, who has consistently denied the allegations, was unable to testify in his own defense after being hospitalized with severe chest pains. Despite his absence, the Senate moved forward with the proceedings, convicting him on multiple counts—any one of which would have been sufficient for his removal.
The session was briefly thrown into disarray earlier in the day when Gachagua’s lawyer, Paul Muite, requested a delay due to his client’s medical condition. “The sad reality is that the deputy president of the Republic of Kenya has been taken seriously ill,” Muite told the Senate, asking for an adjournment until Saturday. However, the Senate rejected the motion for a delay, prompting Gachagua’s legal team to walk out in protest.
President William Ruto, who has reportedly had a strained relationship with Gachagua in recent months, has yet to comment on the impeachment. Political observers have noted growing tensions between the two leaders, with speculation that the impeachment may be part of a broader power struggle within the government.
Many Kenyans view the process as politically motivated, with accusations that the government used Gachagua’s removal to divert attention from public discontent following recent anti-tax protests that rocked the country in June and July. The protests, fueled by widespread frustration over rising costs of living, led to clashes with security forces and heightened tensions between the government and opposition groups.
Political analysts, such as Karuti Kanyinga from the University of Nairobi, believe the impeachment could have significant consequences for President Ruto. “We are going to hear people demanding that the same scrutiny applied to Gachagua be turned on the president,” Kanyinga noted, pointing to the detailed investigation into Gachagua’s financial dealings as a potential trigger for further political fallout.
Gachagua, for his part, has denounced the impeachment as a “political lynching” and has vowed to challenge his removal. His supporters argue that the charges were fabricated to weaken his influence and silence opposition within the government.
