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

In response to earlier criticism that Kindiki hadn’t been vetted by the body responsible for clearing high-level executive office holders, parliament speaker Moses Wetangula said the incoming deputy president has received the necessary approvals and clearance from the Kenya Revenue Authority, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Higher Education Board, the Credit Reference Bureau and other related bodies.

A Nairobi high court, chaired by Justice Chacha Mwita, in mid-October, issued an order suspending the senate resolution upholding Gachagua’s impeachment which was voted for by MPs a week earlier. The court order also suspended any appointment of Gachagua’s replacement, but President William Ruto had, at the time, already nominated interior minister Kithure Kindikias his deputy.

Mwita’s ruling should have seen the replacement process being stalled for at least a week. However, according to Citizen Digital, Wetangula, despite the court ruling, gazetted Kindiki’s appointment, paving the way for his official appointment by Ruto and subsequent swearing-in.

While it was unclear what was going to happen, several media outlets reported that another high court 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 had said that the matters in the petition are of “great national importance and urgency.”

Gachagua, who was removed from office while in the hospital, 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

In early October, MPs voted 282-44 in favor of ousting Gachagua on 11 charges, including corruption, insubordination, undermining the government and practicing ethnically divisive politics. In mid-October, 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, had 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 cleared the way for the hearing and impeachment vote to happen.

After the senate 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.”

Ruto, whose approval rating in Kenya is incredibly low, hasn’t made any public statement on Gachagua’s impeachment. Speaking to the press after the impeachment, Cleo Malalah, secretary of the ruling United Democratic Alliance, accused Ruto of being “heartless,” for “fighting [Gachagua] down.”