NAIROBI, Kenya, May 16 – Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has formally filed a notice to withdraw four of the petitions before the High Court in the ongoing constitutional challenge to the impeachment.
Gachagua has also requested that these cases be exempted from being handled by the current three-judge bench empaneled by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
The notice was filed ahead of Friday’s court session, where Justices E.K. Ogola, A.C. Mrima, and Dr. Freda Mugambi were expected to give further directions on the consolidated impeachment petitions.
The four petitions, identified as part of Cohort 1 were among several challenging the constitutionality of the impeachment process against Gachagua, initiated in the National Assembly and later concluded by the Senate.
Gachagua’s dramatic ouster in October 2024 saw both the National Assembly and the Senate voted to remove him from office over 11 charges including abuse of office, incitement, and breach of constitutional duties.
The Senate upheld five of the charges, sealing his fate as the first deputy president in Kenya’s history to be impeached.
“We have firm instructions from our clients to withdraw our participation in the said proceedings,” reads the notice.
“Further, we do not wish to be enjoined in the cohort of petitions being handled by the Bench empaneled by the Hon. Chief Justice.”
The petitions had been filed to stop Parliament from impeaching Gachagua but will now be dropped because they have been overtaken by events since the ouster happened.
Gachagua intends to continue with petitions urging the High Court to find his impeachment was not constitutional and therefore invalidate it.
The Bench had earlier ruled that all impeachment-related petitions be grouped into two cohorts—those filed before the Senate’s decision (COHORT 1) and those filed after (COHORT 2).
Justice Ogola, delivering the directive on behalf of the Bench on October 24, 2024, said the move was meant to ensure “an orderly and efficient conduct of proceedings.”
On May 9, the Court of Appeal ruled that DCJ Mwilu overstepped her constitutional authority by unilaterally constituting a three-judge bench to hear petitions challenging Gachagua’s impeachment.
The appellate court emphasized that the power to empanel such benches is exclusively vested in the Chief Justice.
Consequently, the court directed Chief Justice Martha Koome to appoint a new bench within 14 days to hear the pending petitions related to Gachagua’s impeachment.
