Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Saturday, November 2, 2024, attended the funeral of Hannah Wanjiru in Kirinyaga County, his first public appearance after his successor Kithure Kindiki was sworn in as deputy president.
Gachagua was accompanied to the event by notable politicians among them Murang’a senator Joe Nyutu and Kirinyaga Woman Representative Jane Njeri Maina.
Just moments after the swearing-in ceremony of Deputy President Kindiki on Friday, November 1, 2024, Gachagua in a statement revealed that he had arrived at his rural home in Mathira, Nyeri County, where he said he was enjoying the quietude of the surroundings away from his mansion in Karen.
He would later edit out the words Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya from his social media bio and resign to the life of a regular Kenyan. His new description reads Husband, Father, Kenyan.
The disgraced former deputy president parted ways with his running mate at the 2022 General elections just two years into their joint term of five years.
Gachagua’s ouster
Gachagua faced a series of charges levelled against him by the National Assembly, six of which were thrown out by the Senate during his impeachment trial on October 17, 2024.
As the Senate voted to seal Gachagua’s fate, he was battling for his life at the Karen Hospital in the hands of renowned cardiologist Dan Gikonyo.
After his recovery, Gachagua learnt that he had been impeached despite not being accorded the opportunity to defend himself in person.
Petitions
He would later submit more than 30 petitions to the various courts in the country including the last one which suspended the swearing-in of Kindiki which was quashed on Thursday, October 31, 2024, by a three-judge bench of Justices Freda Mugambi, Anthony Mrima and presiding judge Eric Ogolla.
Gachagua’s attempts at solidifying his base in the Mount Kenya region proved to be his greatest undoing, earning him accusations of being a regionalist.
During the debates on his ouster, members of Parliament accused Gachagua of focusing his duties in the Mt Kenya region despite his office demanding that he equally advocate for the affairs of all Kenyans.
He was equally accused of undermining cabinet positions that the government had jointly proposed for action.
In his defence, Gachagua said that evictions should be done humanely and that some of the tax proposals fronted by President William Ruto’s administration were punitive and a burden to most Kenyans.
Gachagua is yet to reveal his next course of action after he was impeached from the second-highest office in the land.
