Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s efforts to prevent his impeachment have reached an impasse.
The High Court has denied his plea to suspend the Senate’s impending impeachment proceedings, allowing the trial to move ahead.
In delivering the ruling, Justice Chacha Mwita rejected Gachagua’s petition to prevent the Senate from acting on the National Assembly’s resolution passed on October 8.
Justice Mwita stated that the constitution assigns the impeachment process to Parliament, and the court should exercise caution in intervening. gachagua’s petition, filed last week, asserted that the impeachment motion was flawed and diverged from the original accusations against him.
he sought a conservatory order to halt the senate hearing.
The deputy president claimed that the motion represented a “vicarious assault” rather than a legitimate inquiry, alleging that the proceedings were tainted by intimidation and undue influence on mps.
He accused the national assembly of hastening the process to avoid judicial oversight, thereby undermining constitutional principles.
Gachagua’s legal team criticized the impeachment as a personal attack on him and his family, arguing that the accusations did not meet the criteria for gross misconduct.
He further contended that the motion breached the legal doctrine of exhaustion, insisting that alternative remedies should have been pursued before resorting to impeachment.
Yet, Justice Mwita ruled that there was no justification to suspend the senate’s proceedings, emphasizing that the court not interfere with parliament’s constitutional mandate.
