Gachagua impeachment reveals hazy line between House, Executive

Mwengi Mutuse, Kibwezi West MP and mover of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's impeachment motion debates the motion at the National Assembly, Parliament, Nairobi. October 8th,2024 [Elvis Ogina, Standard] The impeachment motion against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has opened up complexities and behind-the-scenes that may be involved in political processes. Currently, questions have been raised on the blurred line between the Executive and Parliament and whether each arm independently discharges its respective mandate, as the latter is described as a non-performing House. Gachagua has on a number of times claimed that a section of MPs were bribed and intimidated to support an impeachment motion against him. At one point, Gachagua made reference to meetings held at the house of a Cabinet Secretary presumably to discuss how to remove him from office but did not give names of those behind it. He claimed that some MPs were given bribes during the meetings, coerced and intimidated to agree to the terms of his removal. Similarly, he linked his impeachment woes to President William Ruto, saying the motion could not have proceeded without his approval. "To the issue that this motion cannot find its way to the National Assembly without the President's nod, that is true, it can't. It has the President's nod," Gachagua said. "For the record, President Ruto has never complained to me that I have undermined him. If he has conveyed that to Hon Mwengi Mutuse (mover of impeachment motion), I would like to know about it," he added. And he has not spared the Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang'ula either. "How can Moses Wetangula say I should be impeached because of saying people should get their shares when he is a signatory to a share agreement with the President on what will go to Western Kenya and then they are accusing me of tribalism?" posed Gachagua. In the midst of Gachagua's political storm, however, the president has steered clear of the debate and maintained a loud silence. Other issues that have played out is the urgent need for the MPs to have their security enhanced in the wake of impeachment process. The MPs, especially the 291 who voted in support of the special motion, have been keen on their security saying it should be guaranteed. For instance, last week when the motion was tabled in Parliament, National Assembly Majority and Minority Leaders Kimani Ichung'wah and Junet Mohamed respectively as well as Lagdera MP, Farah Maalim were among those who called for protection of all legislators, given the gravity of the situation. As Maalim called for security of not only 291 MPs who appended the signature and also the 'system', he urged Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja to also protect the President to the hilt owing to the nature of Constitution the country has. "Any reckless thug can decide to change the course of history. If, God forbid anything was to happen to the President and there are people who we have been so worried lately, I get the feeling they can have the capacity to plan something like that," Maalim said. "Let us make sure that this information goes out, our President must be protected to the hilt until this motion is over. Because if God forbid anything happens then we have much bigger things to worry about," he added. Amid accusations and counteraccusations, Moses Wetang'ula termed the DP's conduct as abhorrent and inappropriate. "As it may, I will not wear the hat of a judge in this matter but permit me to put it on record that the conduct was, to say the least, abhorrent in light of the proceedings scheduled to commence before the House.'' During the session yesterday, Uasin Gishu County Woman Representative, Gladys Boss defended her previous remarks against Gachagua, that she would take charge of the impeachment process to ensure he leaves office. Boss explained that she made the remarks as a Member of Parliament representing Uasin Gishu County and not as the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. She dismissed claims of bias, saying she is legally mandated to voice her opinion as an MP. "I want to confirm that I'm not biased at all. When I made those statements, I made them as MP for Uasin Gishu and not as a Deputy Speaker sitting on the chair. You can only accuse me of bias if I make those statements from the speaker's chair," she said. On Monday, Gachagua defended himself against allegations made against him in the impeachment motion filed in Parliament in an explosive briefing that seemingly put others on the cross. Some of the issues that stood out during the televised session, which has also constantly been used against him is the 'shareholders' sentiments, with the DP laying bare part of the pre-election pact that President Ruto consented to. According to Gachagua, the Kenya Kwanza coalition agreement provided that National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi negotiated their positions in return for 70 per cent votes for Ruto in the Western region.

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