Rigathi Gachagua: Speaker Kingi Rules Court Can't Stop Senate from Considering Impeachment Motion
Amos Khaemba, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.
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Nairobi?Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's bid to block the Senate from deliberating on his proposed impeachment motion has suffered a major setback.
What the ruling by Amason Kingi means for Gachagua
On Monday, October 14, Senate speaker Amason Kingi ruled that Parliament cannot be injuncted and that preliminary objections to court orders do not stop hearings already in the Senate.
The embattled deputy president is in court seeking to stop the Senate from proceeding with his impeachment trial.
However, while ruling on a similar matter raised by Kericho governor Eric Mutai, Kingi affirmed that no court order can stop proceedings before the Senate.
"The question of the effect of any of the Court Orders injuncting the Senate from conducting any business is well settled. In this respect, the determination is the same regardless of the position advanced by the County Assembly. Whether or not there was in fact, a court order in this matter does not matter; nothing turns on it; the results is the same, which is that Parliament cannot be prevented from discharging its constitutional functions by dint of an order of court," Kingi ruled.
The orders by Kingi imply that the ruling that High Court Judge Chacha Mwita is expected to deliver on Tuesday, October 15, will have no bearing on the impeachment proceeding against Gachagua.
Whom did Martha Koome appoint to hear Gachagua's case
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Martha Koome appointed three judges to hear and determine petitions filed by Gachagua objecting to his impeachment.
On Monday, October 14, Koome appointed Justices Eric Ogola, Anthony Mrima, and Frida Mugambi to hear the petition filed by the embattled deputy president.
In her directive issued at the High Court's Constitutional and Human Rights Division in Nairobi under Petition No. E522 of 2024, Koome followed the orders issued by Justice Lawrence Mugambi.
Justice Ogola will lead the bench appointed by the Chief Justice. Koome's moves come even as Gachagua's impeachment fate is set to be discussed and determined before the Senate plenary on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
