Law requires mover to marshal more than two thirds of legislators to vote for the Motion once its debate is over.
The proponents of the Motion to impeach Deputy President William Ruto face a herculean task to push through their agenda, given the high threshold the Constitution places to remove one from office through the process.
Though Siaya Senator James Orengo has insisted that he is within his constitutional right to push Ruto out of office through impeachment, a look at the Constitutional requirements and the current political alliances in Parliament paints a picture of a likely exercise in futility.
Yesterday, legislators allied to Dr Ruto dared Orengo and those in support of the impeachment plot to make true their threats, vowing to “embarrass” the move on the floor of the House.
Some members of Orengo’s ODM party that would have been expected to support the impeachment Motion have distanced themselves from the move, with the National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi dismissing Orengo’s initiative as personal and lacking the blessings of the party.
Mr Mbadi said the impeachment Motion talk was premature, as there was no concrete basis yet to kick out Ruto from office.
“I would say that it is premature to talk about impeaching the DP now, as much as people are discussing his integrity over his opposition to the fight against corruption,” said Mbadi.
“It is not a mistake for Senator Orengo to express his views, but it should be clear that we have not discussed that matter as a party. People should allow the investigative agencies to do their work,” he added.
Apart from this, the Constitution also disadvantages the Siaya senator — an experienced legislator who in the late 1990s sponsored a no-confidence Motion against retired President Daniel Moi, but failed to raise the simple majority numbers then constitutionally required to unseat a president.
Article 145 and 150 of the Constitution, which guides the process, requires that the impeachment Motion originates from the National Assembly and only taken to the Senate if it is passed by the absolute majority.
This means that Orengo would have to find a legislator in the National Assembly to initiate the Motion.
And while the law requires that the MP sponsoring such a plan first presents a Motion supported by a third of the House, translating to 117 MPs, a more enormous challenge lies ahead, as it would require the mover to marshal more than two thirds of the legislators to vote for the Motion once its debate is over.
National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale termed this effort mission impossible.
“Getting 233 MPs to support such a move is a political nightmare! We have tried it unsuccessfully five times in Bills to amend the Constitution. It is an impossibility under the current circumstances,” said Mr Duale.
He added: “My friend Orengo knows that this is an impossibility, but he has chosen once more to market cheap and worthless fishing expedition.”
Duale said even if Orengo was to push through the agenda in the National Assembly, he would meet more serious hurdles in the Senate.
Apart from the apathy that the Motion has so far attracted, Ruto also commands a sizable support in both Houses.
Except for a few legislators that coalesce around nominated MP Maina Kamanda, who have openly spoken against Ruto, it would appear that Orengo would find it hard to find more foray to push his numbers up given that a majority of the Jubilee MPs, notably from Central and Rift Valley regions, are more allied to the Deputy President.
“Some of us may not be talking because we want to respect the President that we tone our political talk, but our loyalty remains in the leadership of Jubilee, under Uhuru and his Deputy Ruto,” said a woman representative from Central Kenya, who declined to be named.
A decoy
Kipkelion West MP Hilary Kosgei says Orengo is targeting Uhuru.
“Somebody cannot just wake up one day and purport to want to impeach a Deputy President. Orengo is using the name of Ruto as a decoy yet in real sense it is Uhuru that is being targeted. Uhuru and Ruto are conjoined at the hips and whatever you do to one must affect the other,” he said.
His Baringo North counterpart William Cheptumo yesterday said an impeachment Motion must meet the threshold set in Article 145.
[Story by Moses Njagih, Moses Nyamori, Rawlings Otieno, Daniel Psirmoi and Roselyne Obala]
