The Kenyan Senate has voted to impeach the Deputy President, marking a significant political shift in the country and raising questions about future governance and stability.
The Kenyan Senate has removed Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office through impeachment.
Despite a request from Gachagua’s lawyer, Paul Muite, to delay the proceedings, the legislators voted on Thursday evening.
Muite mentioned that Gachagua was admitted to the hospital after becoming seriously ill just hours before the scheduled vote.
The Senate Speaker, Amason Kingi, announced that Gachagua was required to appear by 5 PM local time.
The vice president was impeached by the lawmakers due to his absence from the hearing caused by health issues.
At 59 years old, they have become the first deputy president in Kenya’s history to be impeached.
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A minimum of 53 senators voted in favor of maintaining the first charge.
Gachagua, who was confronted with 11 charges, was impeached on five of them.
The charges encompass: ground one related to shareholding, ground four concerning the undermining of judicial independence, ground five pertaining to violations of the National Cohesion and Integrity Act 4, ground six involving crimes under the National Cohesion Act, and ground nine for gross misconduct relating to public attacks on the national security intelligence service.
In June, Gachagua criticized the head of the intelligence agency for failing to adequately inform President William Ruto and his administration about the scale of mass protests in response to contentious tax increases.
The vice president’s actions were perceived as attempts to weaken the authority of the president.
A total of 281 MPs voted in favor of the ouster motion, while 44 opposed it. One MP abstained from voting.
