In a dramatic day in parliament, senators vote to oust Rigathi Gachagua following his impeachment.
Kenyan senators have voted to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office despite his failure to testify at his impeachment trial after his lawyer said he had been taken to hospital.
However, Gachagua, popularly known as Riggy G, did not show up and his lawyer requested a postponement saying his client was suffering from chest pains and was being treated by doctors at The Karen Hospital.The senators’ refusal to delay proceedings until Saturday - as long as would have been legally allowed - shows how determined they were to get rid of Gachagua, several months after he fell out with President William Ruto.
Gachagua, a wealthy businessman from the vote-rich central Mount Kenya region who was present in the house in the morning, has described the impeachment as a "political lynching".On Thursday evening, the required two-thirds of the 67 senators voted to oust him on charges that included corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and undermining the government.
The row came to a head in June when Gachagua, in an act seen as undermining the president, blamed the head of the intelligence agency for not properly briefing Ruto and the government over the magnitude of mass protests against unpopular tax hikes.
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