• Thursday, 26 December 2024
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  • English
Rigathi Gachagua moves to court hours after his ouster from the Deputy President position

Rigathi Gachagua moves to court hours after his ouster from the Deputy President position

In a last-minute effort to regain his office, Rigathi Gachagua has moved to court to stop President William Ruto from nominating a person to fill the vacancy of the office of Deputy President.

Under a certificate of urgency, Rigathi through Senior Counsel Paul Muite maintains that the charges levelled against him before the national assembly and subsequently the Senate hold no water.

He says the Senate was required by law to act as an impartial arbitrator in considering whether the charges before it have been substantiated or not.

He maintains that the evidence relied on forming the basis for his impeachment was insufficient making the process flawed.

This he says went against the standard set by the court of appeal in the Martin Wambora case where it was decided that in matters of impeachment, allegations must be serious, substantial and weighty and that the charges as framed must disclose a gross violation of the law to which the DP maintains there was none.

"Unfounded and false allegations have been made against me in the impeachment motion before both houses. It would be in the interest of justice that such false information be corrected in line with the provisions of article 35 of the constitution," read his documents in part.

At least 53 out of 66 senators on Thursday night voted to uphold the charge levelled against him by the national assembly last week.

The impeachment motion was fronted by Kibwezi MP Mwengi Mutuse which subsequently ended up in the Senate.

Gachagua who remains hospitalized now seeks an order to block the Senate from gazetting its resolution that upheld his impeachment charges.

Also sought is an order blocking the national assembly from vetting and approving the nomination of the person submitted by the president to fill the vacancy in the office of the Deputy President.

"It would be prejudicial to my client to allow the respondents to gazette his removal by way of impeachment in a manner that stands contrary to basic constitutional provisions before this petition is heard and determined," says Muite.

The respondents are listed as the speaker of the National Assembly, the Senate Assembly, the Speaker of the Senate, the Senate and the Attorney General.

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