from MARIA MACHARIA in Nairobi, Kenya
Kenya Bureau
NAIROBI, (CAJ News) – KENYA is on a knife’s edge as the fallout between the president and his deputy escalates, adding to the crises afflicting the East African nation.
Relations between President William Ruto and his vice, Rigathi Gachagua, are strained and this has culminated in the resumption of impeachment proceedings against Gachagua.
For some months now, the government has faced angry protests from youth disillusioned by economic problems but now, with the tussle between the two mean, the pressure is coming from within as the ruling coalition degenerates into camps, each supporting either politician.
Apparently, tempers reportedly flared in a recent meeting between Ruto and Gachagua, such that the deputy was said to have banged the desk on the president, allegedly over quest for a financial package for him to step down and save him and the government the ignominy of an impeachment.
Earlier, Gachagua claimed he had been removed from the president’s WhatsApp group.
On Tuesday, an impeachment motion was tabled at the House of Assembly.
“A special motion before the House presents an unprecedented constitutional moment in our democracy,” Moses Wetangula, Speaker of Parliament, said.
Gachagua faces several serious allegations such as gross misconduct, violation of the Constitution, undermining national unity, inciting ethnic hatred and unlawfully acquiring assets worth over KSh5,7 billion (US$45 million).
There are claims he allegedly managed to acquire the assets, mostly hotels, within two years yet he is on a reported salary of $93 000 yearly.
There are also allegations he was a proponent of the unprecedented, ongoing protests against Ruto, amid demands by the Gen Z movement for the president to quit.
Some 291 legislators, majorly aligned to Ruto, signed the impeachment motion, way more than the threshold of 117.
This is threatening the ruling alliance along ethnic alliances. However, it appears this is purely factionalism.
Ruto and Gachagua had not commented.
Some MPs from the Mount Kenya region have accused Ruto of being behind the impeachment drama, in a bid to consolidate his power.
It makes a spectacular rift between the two men that swept to power in 2022.
Coincidentally, Ruto, then Kenya’s deputy president, came to power having been involved in a public spat with then president, Uhuru Kenyatta, who did not endorse him but backed Raila Odinga, previously Kenyatta’s rival.
On Tuesday, authorities in Nairobi heightened security measures amid the ongoing impeachment motion.
Several key roads leading to Parliament were closed. Some students from the University of Nairobi protested in the city in support of the impeachment.
A heavy police presence was deployed around the Parliament buildings and at strategic points throughout the capital city.
Parliament has pledged to afford Gachagua a fair hearing, 2 hours of self defence, on Tuesday next week, the day the House is expected to vote on the impeachment.
Meanwhile, this episode has not quieted calls for the resignation of Ruto.
“After MPs have impeached Gachagua, we should go back to the streets and call for parity and respect among the leaders, and then make sure the whole government has been brought down,” activist Francis Mwiti, agitated.
– CAJ News