The impeachment motion against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua now faces a significant hurdle after a Kenyan filed a petition to halt the process.
Denis Ndegwa, a youth leader from Laikipia County, filed the petition to seek a court order barring MPs from tabling Gachagua’s impeachment or having any discussion around it.
Ndegwa argues that the motion is politically driven and could cause ‘irreparable’ harm to the office of the Deputy President and the Executive as a whole.
“We cannot allow the less fortunate, the people who are working for us to be impeached unconstitutionally. We will not allow the executive to be weakened,” the petitioner alleged.
“I have filed a petition against this injustice which is about to happen in the parliament. My petition says there is no impeachment model of the deputy president.”
PHOTO/ DPCS
Petition to Stop Impeachment Against Gachagua Filed
Ndegwa also mentioned that impeaching a DP who was legally elected by Kenyans is unfair and unjust to him.
He went on to accuse the National Assembly of attempting to supersede its powers by contravening Article 150 of the Kenyan Constitution.
“Parliament should now change from playing political gimmicks and should be serious in presenting us, we will be there to clamour for the justice of this nation,” he added.
Also Read: GEMA Declares Stance on Gachagua Impeachment, Shares Details of Meeting with Ruto
MPs Start Appending Signatures
The petition comes after it was revealed that by the end of Thursday September 26 evening, more than 200 lawmakers had signed the special motion for the removal of DP Gachagua from office by impeachment.
At the same time, some of the MPs have said that the plan could be set rolling in the coming week.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa announced that he will be the one to sponsor the impeachment motion against DP Rigathi Gachagua.
Barasa claims to have surpassed the required 117 MPs needed for the motion to be approved by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetangula.
He stated that he had gathered 242 signatures from lawmakers across the political divide and plans to submit them to the Speaker this evening.
“I am the sponsor of the impeachment motion against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. So far, I have received 242 signatures, with an additional six MPs awaiting their turn to sign,” he told the Media.
Also Read: Clock Ticks for Gachagua as Impeachment Motion Receives Overwhelming Support
Gachagua Speaks on His Impeachment
Earlier on Thursday, the DP had explained that the frustrations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over investigations of his close allies are a plot to ruin his name and eventually impeach him.
“This evil scheme is to associate them with violent demonstrations that took place in late June, in a futile attempt to soil my name and hopefully create grounds for the mooted impeachment proceedings against me,” he added.
Moreover, Gachagua has noted that the criminal justice system is being used by certain individuals to manage politics in the country, contrary to what he had embarked to work against.
However, he has said that Kenyans can read through the sideshows and know that he had nothing to do with the disruption of protests.
“Kenyans are intelligent people. They know what factors made Kenyans take to the streets. Kenyans also know what the real problems in Kenya are.
“They surely know Rigathi is not among them. Let our agencies remain professional, follow the rule of law, and keep off politics.”
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