By Hereward Holland and Ammu Kannampilly
NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenya’s senate voted to dismiss Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office by impeachment on five out of 11 charges levelled against him on Thursday, in an unprecedented move that risks pushing the country towards a political crisis.
The National Assembly voted last week to impeach Gachagua, who helped President William Ruto win an election two years ago but has been assailed by allies of the president over alleged disloyalty and a series of provocative public comments.
Fifty-four out of 67 senators voted to dismiss Gachagua on the first count of “gross violation of the constitution”, more than the two-thirds majority required under the law, making him the first Kenyan president or deputy president forced from office by impeachment.
“Accordingly, His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua… ceases to hold office,” said Senate Speaker Amason Kingi.
The process, however, is unlikely to stop there. Gachagua has filed several petitions challenging the push to oust him, and the chief justice has appointed a panel of three judges to examine them.
Gachagua, who has denied the allegations, had been due to defend himself against the charges in the Senate on Thursday afternoon ahead of the vote.
When he failed to show up, his lawyer Paul Muite said the deputy president had been hospitalised with intense chest pains, urging the Senate to pause proceedings for a couple of days.
But the senate declined to do so, prompting Gachagua’s legal team to leave the chambers in protest.
Dan Gikonyo, a doctor treating Gachagua, told reporters the deputy president was admitted to a Nairobi hospital with heart trouble on Thursday afternoon, but was now stable and would likely have to remain in hospital for 24-72 hours.
Some senators questioned the decision to proceed with the vote, despite Gachagua’s absence.
“We are to try a man in hospital because the only crime that Rigathi Gachagua has committed is a political crime, so he has to be removed out of the way, whatever it will take,” said Senator John Methu.
But Senator Moses Otieno Kajwang defended the move to impeach Gachagua, saying, “we must drain the swamp”.
RISKS FOR RUTO
Ruto, who has fallen out with Gachagua in recent months, has not commented on the proceedings, but could face a public backlash following the impeachment, political analysts said.
Many Kenyans view the impeachment process as politically motivated, and a distraction from the aftermath of the deadly anti-tax protests in June and July that exposed deep discontent with government policies and alleged corruption.
The hearings, which have involved in-depth scrutiny of Gachagua’s finances, could boomerang back at Ruto, said Karuti Kanyinga, a professor at the University of Nairobi’s Institute for Development Studies.
“We are going to hear people demanding that the same thing that has been done on Gachagua be done to the president,” Kanyinga said.
Gachagua, who has previously called the impeachment process a political lynching based on falsehoods, had been due to respond to a litany of accusations laid out on Wednesday by lawmaker Mwengi Mutuse, who accused him of inciting ethnic hatred.
Mutuse also accused Gachagua of acquiring properties worth over $40 million since becoming deputy president, despite reporting a net worth of only around $6 million before entering office.
Elisha Ongoya, a member of Gachagua’s legal team, said the allegations lacked evidence and were based on speculation.
(Reporting by Hereward Holland, Ammu Kannampilly, George Obulutsa and Sonia Rao; Editing by Christina Fincher, Ammu Kannampilly, Bernadette Baum, Bill Berkrot and Marguerita Choy)
