DP seeks legal relief as public input on ouster bid begins

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua addresses faithful during a past church service. [File, Standard] Today marks a significant part of an ongoing parliamentary impeachment process of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. As doors open for public participation, Parliament has provided a comprehensive program aimed at gathering views of Kenyans regarding the special motion to impeach Gachagua, which will then be collated. The House has undertaken to follow due process to the letter, in an effort to seal all loopholes that could arise as it progresses, including the highly publicised public participation exercise. Already, a template has been provided for the public to download and fill then deliver to collection centres provided for all the 290 constituencies or forwarded to the clerk of the National Assembly. "Filled template may be delivered to a venue or collection centre indicated in the schedule of public hearings on October 4 or forwarded to the clerk of the National Assembly, hand delivered to the office of the clerk, Main Parliament Buildings or emailed on or before Saturday, October 5 at 5.00pm," a notice published in the local dailies stated. It has provided 11 grounds, with the public expected to tick whether they agree or not that the DP should be impeached or not. On Tuesday, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula explained that the motion to impeach Gachagua cannot proceed without public involvement and invoked Article 182 of the Constitution, which mandates Parliament to ensure public engagement in such processes. "It would be absurd for anyone to think that a motion of this nature could be concluded without public participation. Article 182 of the Constitution clearly requires Parliament to facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other business, including the work of its committees," Wetang'ula stated. He further noted that recent court rulings on the removal of State officers, including county governors, have reinforced the importance of public participation in the process of removing elected officials from office. This comes against the backdrop of Kenyans raising concerns over the impartiality of the process while Gachagua separately filed a petition to suspend his impeachment motion, saying it was founded on deceit and misrepresentation of facts. The embattled DP moved to court in a bid to stop public participation and bar parliament from debating the motion to impeach him. He argues that the motion is unconstitutional, based on false allegations, including claims of amassing wealth amounting to Sh5.2 billion in just two years. In a 144-page petition lodged at the Milimani High Court, Gachagua contends that the impending impeachment motion, tabled in parliament, undermines his constitutional rights and is an act of political persecution. "The intended impeachment process against me essentially seeks to overturn the sovereign will of the majority of Kenyans who voted for me as Deputy President in the August 2022 presidential election," Gachagua asserts. The DP is also critical of Wetangula and Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei for bias, pointing to their public comments about his fate. He claims that the leadership of the National Assembly, including key figures supportive of the impeachment motion, cannot be trusted to facilitate a fair public participation exercise. "Only an independent and impartial body can conduct such an exercise," he states. He further argues that only a limited number of locations are designated for public input, effectively excluding many Kenyans from this critical process. His legal team, led by Victor Swanya, contends that impeachment is a serious process that must adhere strictly to constitutional and parliamentary procedures. This latest petition follows several others filed by his allies and rights groups, all aimed at challenging his impending ouster. As this happened, Kirinyaga MP, Njeri Maina was summoned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over allegations that she was planning to mobilise goons to cause chaos during the public participation forum. MPs have been mobilising for the public participation and called upon their constituents to come out in large numbers to take part. For instance, Kipipiri MP, Wanjiku Muhia urged the residents who will have a chance to participate in the exercise to give their independent opinion about this whole issue. "My people of Kipipiri, the official public participation on the impeachment of our Deputy President will be on Friday, October 4 2024. For convenience, I will place a staff in all our chiefs offices, who will give you the forms to avoid long distance travel and costs. Those within Miharati can pick the form from our office. Please do this in the morning, so that we can drop them to the Gazzeted collection centre which is Olkaou in the afternoon," she said. Similarly, a video of Gachagua dubbed "SimamanaRiggyG" highlighting his work was widely circulated on social media urging Kenyans to come out in large numbers to take part in public participation Saboti Mp, Caleb Amisi said on his X platform that it is obnoxious for the government to do countrywide public participation on the impeachment of Gachagua but cannot do the same even for one ward in Embakasi for sale of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). "In accordance with the basic tenets of democracy, when the majority of the people who elected you directly or indirectly through their representatives lose confidence in you, courts have no business. It can only be challenged on whether the laid out constitutional process was followed. If Parliament impeach Gachagua procedurally, no court in the land will save him! It is a big lie!" he noted. Mark Bichachi, a Communication Strategist said that the law does not say what amount of public participation must be put into any law or action of Parliament. "This public participation is simply ticking a box. The only person who can save Gachagua is called President William Ruto," he said.

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