Kenyan Court Blocks New Deputy President Appointment

Kenyan President William Ruto nominated Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki as his new deputy president on Friday but the court has stopped his appointment until it considers a case next week that questions the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua. 

Ruto quickly filled the deputy president role following Gachagua’s impeachment and dismissal from office on Thursday without even wasting time. Ruto, who had a period of 14 days to decide and choose the new Interior Minister, appointed Kithure Kindiki to take Gachagua’s place within one day. A short time later, 236 members of the national assembly voted in favour of Kindiki’s nomination, with no abstentions or opposing votes.

Then the high court stepped in after legislators had given the green light to Kindiki’s appointment on Friday. It was the first time a Kenyan deputy president had been removed from office by impeachment.

The Senate’s resolution to hold Gachagua’s impeachment charges and Kindiki’s nomination as deputy president were both on pass until October 24. A bench of justices chosen by the chief justice will discuss this matter as stated in an order from the high court in Nairobi’s capital.

Gachagua was impeached with five of the eleven claims against him, which included promoting ethnic hate and openly violating the constitution. He denied the allegations and wrote them off as politically motivated.

Kindiki was a strong candidate as Ruto’s running mate in the 2022 election and was named interior minister in September of that year, not long after the president gained the office.

In the 2022 election, Gachagua helped Ruto in obtaining a significant amount of the votes from the populated central Kenya region. He has, however, recently mentioned feeling sidelined in the face of several claims in the local media that the political picture was shifting and that there was a breakdown with Ruto.

In a court filing on Friday, Gachagua who was hospitalised and not present for the Senate vote to remove him has filed a plea to prevent Ruto from appointing his replacement until after a legal proceeding.

The 59-year-old politician filed or it must be a party’s multiple lawsuits that is opposing the impeachment procedure.