Kenya’s Deputy President Impeached and Interior Minister Sworn in As New Deputy

By Lisbeth Micheni, Kenya

Kenya’s president William Ruto, has nominated the country’s interior minister, Kithure Kindiki as his new deputy, hours after Rigathi Gachagua was overwhelmingly voted out as deputy president in an impeachment motion in parliament over allegations of corruption and ethnic division.

The President made the nomination on Friday to the National Assembly after Gachagua was impeached while he was in the hospital.

Kindiki had been a front runner for deputy president during the 2022 elections campaign. Like Gachagua, he hails from the vote-rich Mount Kenya region.

Kindiki’s appointment was approved by an Assembly vote of 236-0. However, the High Court later issued an order stopping Gachagua’s replacement until next Thursday when cases filed against the impeachment will be heard.

Gachagua remains hospitalised with what his lawyer described as “intense chest pains” related to stress.

The former deputy president’s supporters have criticised the impeachment process as rushed after senators voted against allowing additional days to give Gachagua time to recover and appear before the senate.

His impeachment highlighted divisions within the ruling party and friction between Ruto and Gachagua over government policy. The former deputy president had been accused of insubordination when he opposed the government’s policy of forced evictions during heavy rains that caused flooding and deaths.

During his defence before the Assembly last week, Gachagua said he believed the impeachment motion had the president’s nod, and he has asked legislators to make their decision “without intimidation and coercion.” Ruto has not commented publicly on the impeachment.

Ruto, who came to office claiming to represent Kenya’s poorest citizens, has faced widespread criticism over his efforts to raise taxes to pay off foreign creditors. But the public opposition led him to shake up his cabinet and back off from certain proposals.