Former United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party Secretary-General Cleophas Malalah has called for the dissolution of the government after the court of appeal ruled in favour of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua in a case where he was challenging his impeachment.

In a statement on Saturday, May 10, 2025, Malalah stated that the decision by the courts to rule against Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu’s action of empanelling a bench to hear Gachagua’s impeachment meant that the former DP remains as the legitimate officeholder.

However, the politician further states that, given the irreparable working relationship between President William Ruto and Gachagua, the only option is to wait for the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) so that the president can seek a fresh mandate.

“Following yesterday’s landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal, which declared that Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu acted unconstitutionally in empanelling a three-judge bench to hear the impeachment case against the second Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, it is now clear that the High Court order issued in Kerugoya remains valid and binding,” Malalah states.

“This means that the conservatory orders granted by Justice Richard Mwongo, staying the impeachment and barring Kithure Kindiki from assuming the office of Deputy President, are still in force. In effect. Rigathi Gachagua remains the legitimate Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya,” Malalah remarked.

Irreparable relationship

The politician equally opines that the law should be followed despite the disagreements occasioned by the impeachment and prevailing political environment in the country.

“Despite the irreparable breakdown in the working relationship between President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua stemming from ideological differences, mutual mistrust, and perceived acts of betrayal by President Ruto, the Constitution does not permit personal or political disagreements to override the due process of law,” Malalah says.

“The rule of law must prevail over political expediency, and constitutional officeholders must be accorded the protection and dignity their offices command, irrespective of shifting political alliances,” he continued.

Malalah also remarks that as a result of the impeachment, the government has lost its structure, a matter that has been further exacerbated by the inclusion of opposition politicians into the administration.

Dissolve government

“What we now have is not a government but a hollow shell, oblong in shape, directionless in ideology, and incoherent in structure. A staggering majority of Cabinet Secretaries vehemently opposed the President’s 2022 campaign agenda and are now shamefully pretending to implement it without conviction or consistency,” Malalah states.

“Now that the process of reconstituting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is underway, it is my unequivocal view that the President must act in the highest interest of the Republic by dissolving the government and seeking a fresh mandate from the people this time with his newly assembled, patchwork coalition of so-called broad-based partners,” Malalah notes.

The politician has equally lashed out at both houses of Parliament for failing to hold the executive to account, observing that they are incapable of offering meaningful oversight as they are currently constituted.

“Parliament is now a compromised chamber, hijacked by a clique of transactional leaders whose allegiance is not to the Constitution but to political expediency. The lack of a defined majority or minority has rendered the House a toothless entity, incapable of meaningful oversight or legislative independence.

“Worse still, part of the opposition has become a tragic parody of itself, muzzled, co-opted, and tragically complicit, echoing state narratives in the morning and contradicting them by nightfall,” Malalah remarks.