Impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has warned President William Ruto that Mt Kenya voters will teach him a political lesson in the 2027 elections.
Gachagua asked voters from the region not to hold violent protests following Parliament’s move to impeach him but instead wait for 2027 to express their feelings.
“We will not react until the 2027 elections when we will show them our true colours. I urge you to keep calm during this time as the courts settle this matter,” he said.
Speaking in Limuru, Kiambu county, during the burial of Mwalimu Geoffrey Murugami, Gachagua urged Kenyans to maintain peace, regardless of the outcome of his case.
“The time to reckon is coming shortly. We will show them how we respond to our adversaries,” he said in reference to the 2027 elections.
He added: “They said I have no supporters since you did not come out to protest what they did in Parliament. They do not know how we operate. Keep calm and do what we normally do to those who wrong us.”
Pending cases
On the ongoing court case against his removal from office, Gachagua said that he was optimistic that the High Court will deliver justice.
“We have faith that our Judiciary will protect and uphold the Constitution of Kenya and will exercise fairness and give justice to Rigathi Gachagua and his supporters. That is our prayer,” he said.
He also urged his supporters, particularly in the Mt Kenya region, to foster unity among all communities, emphasising that Kenya is greater than any individual.
“I want to ask for peace, more so to my people of the Mt Kenya region; please, remain peaceful. Love one another, and stay well with all other regions and communities. They have not wronged us; they are our friends,” he said.
“Kenya is bigger than all of us and we don’t have another Kenya. Irrespective of what will happen in the [courts], let our people remain peaceful and build our country.”
He urged those in the government not to relent in the fight against illicit alcohol, a cause he started two years ago.
“Do not drop the gloves, keep the fight on until these harmful drinks are eradicated. Our youths are in danger and need to be assisted,” he said.
Pending cases
Gachagua will today know whether a three-judge bench will set aside orders that barred Kithure Kindiki from being sworn in as Deputy President.
The judges – Eric Ogola, Anthony Mrima and Freda Mugambi – will make their ruling after both parties submit their cases.
Gachagua, through his lawyers led by John Khaminwa, urged the bench to extend conservatory orders preventing Kindiki from assuming office as DP.
He wants the court to find that the Constitution offers both hope and promise and that it is supreme.
The lawyers argued that none of the 50 million Kenyans was called to consider the suitability of Kindiki for the office of DP.
Responding to allegations that the High Court has no jurisdiction to hear Gachagua’s impeachment, as alleged by lawyers for the National Assembly, he argued in court that it has jurisdiction to check the impeachment process at whatever level.
“The greatest public interest is upholding our Constitution. There is no superior public interest that outweighs upholding the Kenyan Constitution,” submitted Gachagua’s lawyer Elisha Ongoya.
Gachagua maintains that he was condemned by the Senate unheard.
He urged the court to find that Kenya is not a presidential or legislative democracy but a constitutional one and that the supreme law was not followed during the impeachment process.
Unlike what had happened in the National Assembly, he argued, those accorded power to lead by the Constitution can only exercise those powers within the four corners of the law.
“Those who want the DP out – let us assume he is kicked out – they will be the same people who will come and say President Ruto you must go. That will be opening chaos in the country,” Khaminwa argued.
