Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has given an assurance to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s legal team led by Senior Counsel Paul Muite that they will have an opportunity to cross-examine senior officials in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) who will appear before the Senate to shed light on some of the allegations levelled against the Second in Command.

Speaking on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, Kingi made it clear that Gachagua’s legal team would also be allowed to raise objections whenever such witnesses go outside the issues being litigated before the House.

Earlier objection

Before the afternoon sitting, DP’s battery of lawyers raised an objection to a request by the National Assembly to have senior officials from EACC appear before the Senate.

They argued that the request would irredeemably prejudice the trial against their client.

The Deputy President said the request was against the provisions of Article 25 of the constitution on fair trial and wondered why neither the EACC nor the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had been invited to investigate some of the criminal allegations levelled against him in the trial.

“Why were these allegations, suspicions or conclusions on matters touching on money laundering against the Deputy President never referred to EACC or DCI?”, observed Senior Counsel Paul Muite, who is leading Gachagua’s legal team in the trial.

Kingi’s rule

However, Kingi allowed EACC officials to appear in the Senate to shed light on some of the allegations raised in the motion presented seeking to remove DP Gachagua from office.

In seeking the summon of the EACC official, the National Assembly had invoked Rule 10 of the Senate Rules of Procedure governing the trial of removal from office through impeachment of state officers. Rule 10 allows the person on trial to demand the summon of any person to appear before the House to adduce evidence.

“We draw your attention to Article 50 of the constitution, which is the fulcrum of fair trial,” Paul Muite rejected the decision on allowing EACC officials to appear in the Senate.

“The rules of this House must be respected, and so should the constitution. We ask you to reconsider the exercise of that right so that the Deputy President may have a fair trial,” he pleaded.

However, Kingi upheld his decision maintaining that Gachagua’s legal team would be allowed to interject and cross-examine them.