Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will face the full House of the Senate as he fights attempts to remove him from office through impeachment.

Speaker Amason Kingi ruled Wednesday that the trial for the removal of the Deputy President will be conducted by the plenary after a motion to establish an 11-member special was withdrawn for lack of a seconder.

Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot had the moved the motion but the deputy Majority Whip Edwin Sifuna refused to second the motion when called upon, forcing the Speaker to withdraw the motion.

Standing Order 70 of the House rules, provides that: “The question on any Motion shall not be proposed unless it shall have been seconded and any Motion that is not seconded shall be deemed to have been withdrawn and shall not be moved again in the same Session, unless with the permission of the Speaker.”

“The Motion having been deemed to be withdrawn, the proposal for a Special Committee is defeated. The Senate will therefore proceed with the investigation on the proposed removal from office, by impeachment, of the Deputy President in Plenary,” ruled the Speaker.

As a result, the Speaker set Wednesday October 16 and Thursday October as the date of the trial. 

He directed the Clerk of the Senate to issue invitations to appear to both parties by the close of business on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.

The Parties have until Monday, October 14 to file their responses with the Office of the Clerk of the Senate after which the office of the Clerk will have to circulate documents received from the Parties, including the Plenary Hearing Programme, to all the Senators. 

The National Assembly adopted the motion on the impeachment of the Deputy President on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.

The Assembly has cited 11 grounds, ranging from gross violation of constitution, which includes undermining the President, the Cabinet and the effective discharge of the national government's executive mandate.

He is also accused of undermining devolution and violation of Article 160 (1) of the Constitution on the Institutional and Decisional Independence of Judges.

The National Assembly allege that there are serious reasons to believe that the Deputy President has committed crimes under the National Cohesion and Integration Act, gross economic crimes under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act and the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The allegations also claim that the Deputy President has committed crimes by continuously misleading members of the public through false, malicious, divisive, and inciteful remarks that are contrary to the Penal Code and the Leadership and Integrity Act. 

He is also accused of gross misconduct that is incompatible with the high calling and dignified status of the Office of the Deputy President and a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council. 

He is accused of publicly attacked and undermined the work of the National Security Intelligence Service and its Officers, openly insubordinating the President, who is the Head of State and Government; and persistently bullying state and public officers.