During the voting process, 53 lawmakers supported Gachagua’s impeachment for gross violations of the constitution, while 13 voted against his removal. According to the constitution, if at least two-thirds of the senators vote to uphold the impeachment, then Gachagua will be dismissed.
It is important to note that a majority of the senators only needed to vote in favor of one ground to justify the deputy president’s impeachment.
However, 45 senators intervened to save Gachagua by opposing his impeachment concerning the allegation that he violated the fourth schedule of the constitution by undermining devolution. Only 19 approved the impeachment while 3 abstained.
Gachagua’s impeachment proceeded after the Senate decided to continue the hearing despite a request from the Deputy President’s legal team to postpone it to October 22.
The Deputy President’s legal team had asked Senate Speaker Amason Kingi to adjourn the session following the Deputy President’s reported illness during the proceedings. Addressing the Senate plenary, lead counsel Paul Muite informed the lawmakers that the Deputy President experienced chest pains and was urgently taken to Karen Hospital for treatment.
“The unfortunate reality is that the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya has become seriously ill, and as I speak to Mr. Speaker and this house, he is currently hospitalized. “That is the unfortunate reality,” Muite informed the plenary.
However, after the adjournment plea was rejected, DP Gachagua’s legal team exited, stating they lacked permission from their client to continue representing him in the impeachment case.
Following the decision of the Deputy President’s legal team to leave, Speaker Kingi allowed the representatives from the National Assembly to present their closing statements in Gachagua’s impeachment trial. The Senate then adjourned for thirty minutes, after which a voting exercise was conducted.
In their presentation, the National Assembly’s representatives, led by Rarieda lawmaker Oteinde Amollo, accused the Deputy President of violating the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Act.
“He (Deputy President Gachagua) spoke about sharing positions in coalition rather than in government, and to attempt to mislead this house constitutes an aggravation of a rule; I invite you, Mr. Speaker, to determine that a breach has occurred. ” A clip was presented in which the deputy president stated he had no apologies, lawyer Otiende Amollo argued.
Deputy President Gachagua was first impeached by members of the National Assembly on October 8, when 282 MPs supported the special motion, while 44 voted against it and one legislator abstained from the vote.
