Kibwezi East MP cornered by DP Gachagua lawyers during Senate hearing

Kibwezi East MP Mwengi Mutuse. [File, Standard]

For close to two hours, Kibwezi East MP Mwengi Mutuse was cornered by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's legal team, to prove the 11 charges tabled in his motion.

This came at a time when the National Assembly brought to the Senate four witnesses to testify against the country's second in command on the floor of the House.

First to take the stand was the mover of the motion, the Kibwezi lawmaker, who appeared to have a hard time in explaining, providing evidence and even proving nearly all the charges; which led to a dramatic showdown in the upper house.

This was when the DP's legal team, led by Senior Counsel Paul Muite, began cross-examination of the MP who drafted the impeachment motion and tabled it before the National Assembly.

When put to task to explain and provide evidence on the charges, Mutuse was either unable to answer, failed to provide evidence on nearly all charges.

For instance, Mutuse had a hard time explaining how the purchase of Olive Gardens Hotel linked the DP to any crime.

Mutuse had also accused the DP of amassing wealth valued at Sh5.2billion since he took office in 2022 but when asked to explain how his team had reached that value, he stuttered before saying his team estimated the value of Gachagua's property.

Advocate Elisha Ongoya expressed disbelief at the figure, listed as one of the 11 grounds for Gachagua’s impeachment, and pressed Mutuse for clarifications.

Mutuse stumbled over his words and, despite multiple attempts to evade the question, eventually admitted that the figure was derived by estimating current land values and adding the worth of properties linked to Gachagua.

On the shareholders' comments, Mutuse was countered by a recording of President William Ruto speaking to Murang'a residents, where he referred to them as major shareholders in the government.

When asked who was speaking on the clip, he said 'the president'.

The lawyer went on to ask him whether the president had referred to the people of Murang'a as shareholders, and he [Mutuse] agreed.

He was then asked to say whether it was wrong for the DP to echo his boss' sentiments in a public forum, since the Constitution refers to him as principal assistant to the head of state.

The MP stuttered, before saying yes as his body language suggested a lack of confidence in his own words.

From his actions, words and body language, Mutuse seemed tensed and not in touch with the contents of the motion, prompting Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua to ask whether the motion was originally his or not.

"Is this impeachment motion really and truly your motion?I ask that question because on all accounts, the witness is unable to prove anything.” Senator Wambua asked.

"Who did this motion? Yours truly Kibwrzi East MP Mwengi Mutuse did the motion and tabled it before National Assembly," Mutuse said as he conceded that he had insufficient evidence to back some claims.

Hours before, the National Assembly had brought a pick-up full of boxes with evidence against the DP.