Kenya Swears In New Deputy President As Gachagua Challenges Impeachment In Court
By
OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
Former Kenyan Deputy President Gachagua is challenging his impeachment before the High Court in Nairobi, arguing that the charges are unsubstantiated and that the hearings were unfair.
He was impeached and removed from office by a vote of more than two-thirds of legislators on October 17 on charges of corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and support for anti-government protests. President William Ruto nominated Kindiki for the deputy role the following day.
Gachagua’s impeachment had spotted divisions within the ruling United Democratic Alliance, or UDA, and friction between Ruto and Gachagua, both UDA members. Gachagua had been accused of insubordination when he opposed the government’s policy of forced evictions during heavy rains that caused flooding and deaths.
The new deputy president Kindiki called Friday’s event a celebration of the “constitution and our democracy” and committed to be loyal and faithful to the president.
President Ruto urged him to serve the people of Kenya saying that like all public servants, they are not in office for personal interests and that all leaders serve at the pleasure of the people of Kenya and must uphold the constitution and the rule of law.
Kindiki, the former interior minister, takes the deputy president’s office at a time when arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances in Kenya have raised concerns among western envoys and human rights groups. The country is also enduring economic hardships with rising cost of living and newly increased taxes.
The country witnessed a series of nationwide anti-government protests over a finance bill that proposed to increase taxes in June, culminating in the storming and burning of parliament on June 25, when several protesters were shot dead outside parliament gates.
