Senate Speaker Amason Kingi was on Thursday forced to suspend Senate sittings after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was reportedly taken ill at a time when he was about to be cross-examined by the National Assembly lawyers led by Senior Council James Orengo.

"To rule 11 overrules the procedure where the DP fails to appear, the Senate can actually proceed or for exceptional reasons to be recorded permits a late appearance before the Senate of the DP

"Having considered the two sides, my directions are as follows that we will suspend this sitting and resume exactly 5:00 pm. So we expect the DP then to take the witness stand at 5:00 pm. This is a time-bound process, unfortunately. It is so ordered," directed Kingi.

Earlier, there was confusion in the Senate after Gachagua's lawyer Paul Muite admitted that the DP's legal counsel was not aware of his whereabouts.

Minutes later, Muite told the plenary that the Deputy President had been hospitalised after falling 'very sick.' The hospital he was taken to, however, remained a mystery.