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Kenya is debating the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. The Senate upheld the National Assembly’s decision to remove the Gachagua from office for violation of the Constitution, parochialism and his oath of office.

The matter has sparked an emotive debate, with his supporters arguing that the second-in-command was being persecuted by his boss, President William Ruto, for reasons that have not been made public. The Constitution empowers the people – directly and through their elected representatives – to discipline rogue State officers, including the President and the deputy.

Public participation is an important instrument enshrined in the Constitution in response to Kenya’s history of abuse of power and dictatorship. The Constitution also declares the principle of separation of powers between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary as co-equal State organs. The Judiciary continues to exhibit a modicum of independence – it has resisted the temptation to become the lapdog of the other arms of government by rubber-stamping their decisions. But that cannot be said of MPs.

Judges have made bold decisions on the illegality of government decisions and encouraged sobriety and constitutionalism in the management of public affairs, human rights and the rule of law. Judgments on key policy tools such annual finance bills, and extrajudicial killings have consistently irritated the powers that be.

Ruto has recently launched a series of extraordinary attacks on the Judiciary, accusing unnamed judges of corruption, while criticising those who went to court to stop government projects. He was responding to a previous series of rulings against his administration. Gachagua, who has been equally scornful of the Judiciary, reached a sobering Damascus moment when he placed his faith in judges on his impeachment process. The fact that he didn’t demonstrate confidence in the two Houses of Parliament and the Executive should tell Kenyans something about the behaviour of the two arms of governments.

Anyone monitoring the impeachment process could tell that MPs acted as marionettes controlled by the Executive with instructions to reach a certain decision. The merits of the impeachment case against the DP aside, it was unfortunately apparent that MPs were taking guidance from the Executive that they are supposed to provide oversight of. And this should worry us. The same politicians also drove what was clearly a stage-managed charade painted as public participation. And here the gullibility of Kenyans came to bear.