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| DP Rigathi Gachagua |
A three-judge bench will tomorrow at 8 am deliver a ruling on whether it will issue orders blocking DP Rigathi Gachagua from appearing at the Senate for his impeachment hearing.
This comes even after Justice Chacha Mwita declined to issue an order on the same. Mwita said the courts must exercise restraint in matters of impeachment and allow the process to run its natural course.
He cited the separation of powers, saying courts should be reluctant to taking over mandates of other arms of government.
However, as he was delivering this ruling, a three-judge bench that was constituted by Chief Justice Martha Koome to hear prior cases filed by Gachagua and others touching on his impeachment process was awaiting directions.
The bench ended up allocating time to parties, with the hearing starting at 6 pm.
Gachagua, through his legal team, sought the same orders that Mwita had declined to issue.
They argued that if the impeachment is allowed to proceed, it will infringe on his (Gachagua’s) rights.
The Gachagua legal team maintained the same argument that there was no meaningful public participation during the impeachment process.
Advocate Lempaa Suyinka, on the other hand, asked the bench to consider issuing an order stopping President William Ruto from nominating or forwarding a name for approval of the new deputy president if the Senate ends up sending Gachagua home.
Lempaa represents one of the petitioners.
In a rejoinder, the National Assembly and Senate told the bench that all issues being raised had already been deliberated on.
They said Judge Mwita had already ruled on the same, and the impeachment, being a constitutional process, ought to be allowed to proceed.
Advocate Mercy Thanji for the Senate said if parties are aggrieved by what the outcome of the Senate will be, they may approach the court for appropriate remedies.
“We don’t know what will happen at the Senate. The intervention of this court at this stage is therefore premature,” said Thanji.
Over 20 matters have been filed in court challenging Gachagua’s impeachment.
by SUSAN MUHINDI
