An opposition MP has threatened to sponsor a motion to impeach Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Bumula MP Jack Wamboka said on Monday that he will bring a motion to the National Assembly to discuss Gachagua's conduct.
Wamboka, an Azimio allied lawmaker, claims that the DP has been leaning towards the Mt. Kenya side so much, since he was sworn into office.
“Everytime Rigathi speaks you wonder whether he is the Deputy President of Kenya or Deputy President of the Kikuyu republic,” he said.
“In fact at some point, I will bring a motion to impeach you, discuss your conduct and impeach you ( Gachagua),” Wamboka added.
Despite being provided for in the Constitution, impeaching a Deputy President is no walk in the park.
First thing, Gachagua is a member of the Kenya Kwanza coalition, which Speaker Moses Wetangula ruled as the majority at the National Assembly.
After the August 2022 post-election agreements were entered into, Kenya Kwanza pushed its membership to 179 MPs against Azimio la Umoja’s 157.
How to impeach a DP
The Kenyan Constitution gives the National Assembly and the Senate the power to impeach the Deputy President.
It provides for two ways to remove the President.
First through impeachment and second on grounds of incapacity which are provided in Articles 144 and 145.
The MP moving intending to move the motion, needs to be supported by at least a third of all the members.
The grounds of impeachment include gross violation of a provision of the Constitution or of any other law, where there are serious reasons for believing that the DP has committed a crime under national or international law or for gross misconduct.
If at least two-thirds of the MPs in the national Assembly back the motion, the DP will stand impeached.
The National Assembly Speaker is then expected to inform the Speaker of the Senate of that resolution within two days.
However, within this period, the DP should continue to perform the functions of the office of the Deputy President pending the outcome of the impeachment proceedings.
Within seven days after receiving notice of a resolution from the Speaker of the National Assembly the Speaker of the Senate should convene a sitting.
The Senate, by resolution, may appoint a special committee comprising eleven of its members to investigate the matter.
