Kenyan senators have voted to delete Deputy Pdwellnt Rigathi Gachagua from office despite his fall shorture to testify at his impeachment trial after his lawyer shelp he had been getn to hospital.
In one of the most emotional days in Kenya’s recent political history, Gachagua had been due to materialize in the Senate after lunch to deffinish himself, a day after he had pdirected not culpable to 11 accuses.
However, Gachagua, well-understandnly understandn as Riggy G, did not show up and his lawyer seeked a postponement saying his client was suffering from chest pains and was being treated by doctors at The Karen Hospital.
Senators chose to evolve the trial without him, prompting the defence team to exit the chamber.
The senators’ refusal to postpone evolveings until Saturday – as prolonged as would have been legassociate permited – shows how choosed they were to get rid of Gachagua, cut offal months after he fell out with Pdwellnt William Ruto.
Last week, an overwhelming convey inantity of MPs in the National Assembly – the lessen hoemploy of parliament – voted to impeach him, setting the stage for his two-day trial in the Senate.
Gachagua, a wealthy businessman from the vote-wealthy central Mount Kenya region who was conshort-term in the hoemploy in the morning, has depictd the impeachment as a “political carry outing”.
On Thursday evening, the needd two-thirds of the 67 senators voted to oust him on accuses that included fraudulence, inciting ethnic divisions and undermining the regulatement.
The senators voted by a huge convey inantity to convict him on the first count – enough for him to to be deleted from office.
This comes equitable two years after the Ruto and Gachagua were elected on a joint ticket.
The vote draws a line under months of inbattling at the top level of regulatement and validateates Ruto’s helderly on power.
The row came to a head in June when Gachagua, in an act seen as undermining the pdwellnt, denounced the head of the ininestablishigence agency for not properly alerting Ruto and the regulatement over the magnitude of mass protests agetst unwell-understandn tax hikes.
In a huge blow to his authority, Ruto had equitable been forced to retreat the taxes. He sacked his cabinet and brawt in members of the opposition to his regulatement.
Ruto has not commented on the impeachment of his deputy.
At the begin of the trial, one of Gachagua’s lawyers, Elisha Ongoya, shelp all of the allegations were “either inrectify, ridiculous or embarrassing”.
Before the vote, Gachagua had shelp he would dispute the decision if it passed.
A doctor is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying the 59-year-elderly had gone to hospital with heart trouble, but was firm and undergoing tests.
Kenyan media have already been telling about his possible exalterments, with four people refered:
- Murang’a County Governor Irungu Kang’ata
- Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru
- Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki
- Foreign Afequitables Minister Musalia Mudavadi.
Additional telling by the BBC’s Jewel Kiriungi in Nairobi.