CJ Koome to form bench to hear DP Gachagua's impeachment petitions

Petitions filed in the High Court to challenge the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will be forwarded to Chief Justice Martha Koome to constitute a bench of an even number to determine the weighty constitutional issues raised therein.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi Friday ruled that the issues by the petitioners and Gachagua’s legal team led by Senior Counsel Paul Muite require the mind of more than one judge to determine.

For instance, Mugambi said some of the concerns raised and canvassed by the advocates include the constitutionality of the standing orders of both the National Assembly and the Senate.

Gachagua’s lawyers had also raised the question of whether the allegations subject to the impeachment should be circulated to the public with or without the response of the person being impeached, and if the failure to include the response compromises the public participation outcome.

Among what is to be determined is whether failure to conduct public participation prior to giving the candidate of impeachment the opportunity to defend themselves amounts to denying them fair administration action and the right to a fair hearing under the constitution.

The judge said that these are the fundamental questions arising from this impeachment process, adding that together with others, they amount to substantial questions of law.

"Given the extensive nature of these proceedings from the national assembly all the way to the Senate, the massive public interest in the matter, it will require the mind of more than one judge to determine. It is important for the citizens of this country to know whether the current set of laws allows adequate opportunity to participate fully in the process of the removal of a deputy president," the judge said.

"In any case, courts do not exist to serve intellectual stimulation but to serve the public in matters of great concern and this is one of those rare occasions that the court should rise to the occasion and serve the public with all the resources it can possibly stand."

Gachagua’s lawyers are pointing at the standing orders that the National Assembly relied on in the impeachment process, particularly, on whether the period taken for the entire process was sufficient.

The embattled DP's lawyers said the time was not sufficient and it appeared that the members of the public were being coerced to endorse a decision that had already been made, and too little time was set aside for the process.

"The limited period of seven days to carry out the entire process was said to have an inhibiting effect on carrying out an adequate and meaningful public participation and failure for the standing orders to provide mechanisms for the public participation framework to credibly authenticate the outcome of a public participation were some of the issues that the petitioners raised," Justice Mugambi said.

The judge said the questions require serious circumspection considering the fundamental position the public participation occupies in providing continuous legitimacy to the actions of those charged with the exercise of sovereign authority under the constitution.

Mugambi added that it is also important to note the immense public interest these matters generated and being the first of its kind in Kenya where the deputy president of the republic is being removed from office through the process of impeachment.

"It is my considered opinion that this matter requires a bigger bench so that it can pronounce itself on the process that is constitutionally compliant to serve as the benchmark for future cases of this nature," the judge said.