Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has assembled a battery of twenty advocates, including Senior Counsels who will take on his proposed impeachment both in parliament and in the courts next week when the house will consider removing him from office.
Gachagua’s legal team features reputable and experienced advocates, led by Senior Counsels Paul Muite Victor Swanya, Tom Macharia, Amos Kisilu and Elisha Ongoya.
With experience spanning more than 5 decades, Senior Counsel Paul Muite is a legal luminary in Kenya.
READ: Day 2 of public participation: Ruto dragged in, tight security & long queues
Familiar with impeachment process and backed by experience, Muite who successfully defended former Embu Governor Martin Wambora will captain the team, hoping to see Gachagua sail through the turbulent waters.
The legal team noted that Gachagua will face his accusers and defend himself on all eleven grounds tabled by those seeking to impeach him.
Conveying that they are ready for the showdown, the legal team noted that Gachagua will walk the whole journey in a bid to clear his name.
"We have looked through the accusations of his excellency the deputy president and we are prepared," Swanya noted.
Why Gachagua wants Shollei & Wetangula out of the impeachment process
The legal team will also demand that National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and his deputy, Gladys Boss Shollei recuse themselves from the impeachment process, noting that the duo has already pronounced themselves on the matter.
Gachagua, through his legal representatives noted that Wetangula and Shollei should have been impartial on such a sensitive matter but publicly intimated they support Gachagua's ouster.
This effectively means that they are not neutral hence the demand to have them recuse themselves.
"You are giving notice now, and people wake up about what to be on that particular day, how fair is that? For the sake of natural justice, I think the two principal officers should recuse themselves," Swanya said.
Concerns with public participation
Public participation is among the grounds that the team will explore while defending the DP.
READ: Gachagua impeachment: Kenyans speak out & focus on Ruto at public participation
Arguing that both Friday and Saturday when public participation happened are worship days for a significant number of Kenyans, the team notes that the process was not aligned with the law as many were denied a chance to participate and maintain that it should have been four days at a minimum.