By Spy Uganda Correspondent
President William Ruto has filed a preliminary objection in a petition against the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua.
Through lawyer Adrian Kamotho, Ruto says that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear and determine the petition, arguing it is abuse of court process.
“The Petition herein has been filed in this Honourable Court in clear disregard of the law, is an abuse of the due process of court, hence cannot be countenanced and/or determined by this Honourable Court,” reads court documents.
The president has been named as the fifth respondent in the case whereas the impeached deputy president is named as an interested party.
President Ruto while asking the court to dismiss the case says the that civil proceedings cannot be instituted in any court against the President or the person performing the functions of the office of the President during their tenure of office in respect of anything done or not done under the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
Petitioners David Mathenge, Peter Kamotho, Grace Mwangi, Clement Muriuki and Edwin Kariuki moved to court to block DP-nominee Kithure Kindiki from assuming office.
They faulted the Senate impeachment process, questioning the the legality of the whole procedure. The petitioners thus requested the court to stop Kindiki’s planned swearing-in until the matter was addressed by the court.
Gachagua was removed from office after he was impeached in a historic vote in the Kenya’s Senate last week.
He became the first deputy president to be removed from office in this way since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s 2010 constitution.
end of listThe 59-year-old, who was once a close ally of President William Ruto, faced 11 charges including insubordination to the president, inciting ethnic violence, corruption, undermining government and money laundering, among others.
Gachagua rejected the charges against him saying they are being politically motivated.
But the Senate – which only had to find him guilty of one charge to remove him – decided he was guilty of five of the 11 that Gachagua faced.
The vote came at the end of a two-day Senate trial hearing, during which the now former deputy president and the National Assembly both argued their cases.
Gachagua, who previously served as a member of parliament, was elected into office to serve alongside President Ruto in August 2022.
The two defied the odds to win the election, but their relations have since deteriorated, even as Ruto has warmed to opposition leader Raila Odinga, his main rival in the elections.
