Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has hired a 20 Member Team Of Lawyers to represent him at the National Assembly on Tuesday, October 8, when he faces legislators to defend himself against the impeachment proceedings.
The National Assembly has scheduled a special plenary sitting on Tuesday when the deputy president will be expected to mount his defence against the charges informing his proposed ouster.
Leading the team of lawyers defending Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is Senior Counsel Paul Muite, Others include Tom Macharia, Amos Kisilu, Elisha Ongoya and Victor Ogeto.
Dp Gachagua claims that the impeachment motion against him is aimed to overturn the sovereign will of the Kenyan people who elected him as deputy president, based on grounds that do not meet the legal threshold for impeachment.
The DP further argues that some Members of Parliament expressed their support of the motion to impeach him before it was tabled in Parliament, something he said casts doubt about the fairness of the process.
Gachagua has as well expressed doubts about whether the National Assembly Speaker and his deputy could impartially oversee the impeachment process, accusing them of making public statements against him.
The defense team argues that the public participation process, which allowed only two days for citizen engagement, was inadequate and violated constitutional requirements. According to the lawyers, this flaw undermines the legitimacy of the impeachment proceedings.
In addition to challenging all allegations leveled against Gachagua, the lawyers are calling for the recusal of National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and his deputy, Gladys Boss Shollei. They claim both have made prior public statements indicating bias in favor of Gachagua’s removal, which compromises the fairness of the process.
The legal team has expressed readiness to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court if necessary, vowing to contest the impeachment on multiple fronts.
