Kenya’s upper house of parliament is set to vote Thursday on whether to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office in an unprecedented political saga that has gripped the nation.
The Senate will give its verdict at the end of the second day of an impeachment trial against the embattled number two to President William Ruto.
It follows a historic vote last week in the lower house, the National Assembly, to impeach Gachagua on 11 charges including corruption, insubordination, undermining the government and practising ethnically divisive politics.
A trial in the Senate began Wednesday after the 59-year-old, also known as “Riggy G”, failed in multiple court bids to halt the process.
The outspoken politican arrived at parliament on Thursday, shortly before the session opened, and is expected to testify in his defence later.
Gachagua has denied all the charges — and no criminal proceedings have been launched against him — but he will automatically be removed from office if the Senate approves his impeachment.
If this happens, he would be the first deputy president to be ousted in this manner since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s revised 2010 constitution.
Gachagua, who has protested that he is being treated like a “spent cartridge”, can however fight the impeachment in the courts once the parliamentary process is completed.
