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In a last-minute legal dash to save himself from the looming impeachment by the Senate, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has reached out to Chief Justice Martha Koome in a bid to legally halt the impeachment process.
Through his lawyers, the DP requested the Chief Justice to set up an urgent hearing of the case seeking to stop his ongoing impeachment process before Tuesday.
The team noted that should that fail to happen, the Senate will proceed with the impeachment process.
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While highlighting the urgency of the matter, Gachagua’s legal team that has been pushing for empanelling of a bench by Chief Justice Martha Koome to hear the petition noted that "the substratum of the petitions will cease to exist" once the Senate begins its proceedings.
Gachagua impeachment push heads to the Senate
The Senate is set to begin the impeachment proceedings on Wednesday, October 16 with DP Gachagua set to table his defense.
READ: How Gachagua can survive impeachment after 4-hour defence in Senate
Critics opine that the matter having taken a political angle with political interests, Gachagua is not likely to be saved at the Senate.
Perhaps aware that the odds are against him at the Senate, the DP is leaving nothing to chances in the corridors of justice.
Impeachment by the National Assembly
He has since filed a fresh petition at the High Court in a legal push seeking to block the Senate from considering the National Assembly’s resolution to impeach him earlier this week.
281 Members of parliament voted to oust Gachagua while 44 voted against the impeachment motion.
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Gachagua put up a spirited defense in which he addressed the 11 accusations labelled against him, including accusations of gross misconduct, corruption, and divisive politics.
READ: Move to block swearing in of new DP as Gachagua prepares to face Senate
This however was not enough to convince the lawmakers.
He maintains that the process had several flaws, including Parliament of failing to conduct adequate public participation and Speaker Moses Wetangula failing to recuse himself despite having let his stand on the matter known.