Uncertainty Grows in Kenya as Courts Suspend Impeachment and Replacement of Deputy President

This new ruling should see the replacement process being stalled for at least a week. However, according to Citizen Digital, National Assembly speaker Moses Wetangula, despite the court ruling, has gazetted Kindiki’s appointment, paving the way for his official appointment by Ruto and subsequent swearing-in.

While it is unclear what happens next, several media outlets are reporting that another high court has barred Kindiki from assuming office, following a petition by two individuals identified as David Munyi Mathenge and Peter Gichobi Kamotho. According to Citizen Digital, Justice Richard Mwongo of the Kerugoya Law Courts said that the matters in the petition are of “great national importance and urgency.”

Gachagua, who was removed from office while in hospital Thursday night, had, through his lawyers, filed a petition seeking to stop his impeachment and replacement.

Kindiki has been a part of government since Ruto came into office in 2022, serving as interior minister until the government was dissolved following widespread protests. However, he was back in the new government as the cabinet secretary for the Interior and Administration of National Government.

Kindiki, who was in the Senate from 2013 until his appointment as minister, isn’t a popular choice for many Kenyans, as negative online reactions have trailed his appointment. Many have blamed him for the alleged, rampant use of force by state security on protesters while demonstrations against a proposed finance bill took place across the East African country.

“Kidiki [sic] is not the right man for the job. Wasn't he the same person who ordered the police to shoot and kill peaceful demonstrators on June 25th? We don't have a country here,” X user @marto254_ wrote in a reply to journalist Larry Madowo breaking the news of Kindiki’s nomination. Many replies to Madowo’s post were similarly negative, with one calling the decision a “bad choice,” and another one describing Kindiki as Ruto’s puppet.

Background

Last week, MPs voted 282-44 in favor of ousting Gachagua on 11 charges, including corruption, insubordination, undermining the government and practicing ethnically divisive politics. This Thursday, the upper house convicted him of five of the charges, voting 54-13 and confirming the impeachment.

It was widely believed that Ruto and Gachagua had fallen out, two years after they defied the odds to win the election that got them into power. It was also believed that Gachagua, who is from Kenya’s vote-rich central region, helped Ruto win the election due to his significant influence there.

Gachagua, whose lawyers said he was hospitalized before the senate hearing, has said the charges and impeachment trial were based on “nonsensical allegations.” He sought to pause the process, which his lawyers argued was being fast-tracked, but a high court ruling on Wednesday cleared the way for Thursday’s hearing and impeachment vote to happen.

After yesterday’s vote, online reactions seemed to indicate that many Kenyans weren’t particularly pleased with the process, even if they weren’t exactly pleased with the convicted man. “I really don't care for Gachagua, he's many things & definitely incompetent. But I am definitely opposed to an impeachment process that makes a mockery of our Constitution,” political analyst Reuben Wambuiwrote in an X post. “Our Parliament is a joke and this is embarrassing.”

“The truth is, majority of us want Gachagua to go. But we feel it is unfair for him to go and leave Ruto who is a million times worse offender than the DP. That’s the only reason that we sound like we are defending him,” @carienimwa wrote. “We aren’t really defending him. We need both to go.”