By Abiola Olawale
A bid by Kenyan lawmakers to oust Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has moved swiftly to the Senate on Wednesday.
This comes after he was impeached by the lower house of parliament in an unprecedented political drama that has gripped the nation.
The New Diplomat reports that Gachagua was impeached by the lower House of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The Impeachment motion was voted for by 282 MPs in the 349-member National Assembly, more than the two-thirds required, after a heated 12-hour session.
In the impeachment motion, the 59-year-old Gachagua was accused of corruption, insubordination, undermining the government and practising ethnically divisive politics, among a host of other charges that he has all vociferously denied.
Gachagua’s fate is now in the upper house, which will begin Impeachment session on Wednesday.
If the Senate also approves the motion, Gachagua would become the first deputy president of Kenya to be removed from office in this way since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s revised 2010 constitution.
The Senate has 10 days to wrap up the proceedings and make a decision, which requires the support of at least two-thirds of senators.
The impeachment process comes amid political uncertainty in the East African country, which was rocked earlier this year by deadly anti-government protests amid cost-of-living crisis.
It would be recalled that Kenya suffered a deadly crisis after the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition failed to heed calls to reject a controversial 2024 Finance Bill.
Several youths took to the streets to protest a clause inserted in the Finance Bill which seeks to raise revenues through taxes. In a reverse move, President William Ruto backs down and took several pro-people steps to appease protesting Kenyans.
