Gachagua Wins First Round of Impeachment Hearing After Court Accepts Supplementary Affidavit
The ruling, delivered on Thursday, marks a significant development in the politically charged case that continues to attract national attention months after Gachagua’s dramatic removal from office.
The supplementary affidavit, filed by Gachagua’s legal team, seeks to explain the former deputy president’s medical condition at the time Parliament debated and approved the impeachment motion against him.
In their ruling, the judges stated that the affidavit had been properly filed and would remain part of the official court record in the interest of justice, despite strong objections raised by lawyers representing Parliament and the Office of the Attorney General.
“The affidavit, duly filed, is properly on record in the wider interest of justice,” Justice Eric Ogolla ruled on behalf of the bench.
The decision was immediately viewed as a major procedural win for Gachagua, whose legal team has consistently argued that his illness during the impeachment process affected his ability to adequately defend himself before the Senate.
Lawyers representing Parliament, led by Senior Counsel Githu Muigai and Tom Ojienda, strongly opposed the admission of the document.
The legal team argued that the affidavit introduced fresh claims without prior leave of the court and raised allegations that required independent verification.
“There is no other proper way to deal with this affidavit other than to strike it out,” one lawyer representing Parliament submitted before the court.
According to the lawyers, such claims required rebuttal and proper evidentiary scrutiny before being admitted into court proceedings.
Senior Counsel Ojienda also questioned inconsistencies in the timeline presented by Gachagua’s legal team, arguing that it contradicted earlier submissions made before the Senate during the impeachment hearing.
“The time spent in the Senate negates the submissions by learned senior counsel Paul Mwite to the Senate. He did not know where the deputy president was on the 17th,” Ojienda submitted.
The legal team argued that excluding the affidavit would deny the court an opportunity to fully examine whether constitutional standards of fairness and due process were observed.
The ruling now sets the stage for a more intense legal battle as both sides prepare to present detailed arguments on the legality and constitutionality of the impeachment process that removed Gachagua from office.
Political analysts say the case could have far-reaching implications on future impeachment proceedings involving senior state officials, particularly on matters touching on due process, medical incapacity, and public participation.
The former deputy president has consistently maintained that the impeachment process was politically motivated and failed to meet constitutional thresholds, while Parliament has defended its actions as lawful and procedurally sound.
With the court now allowing the controversial affidavit to remain on record, attention is expected to shift to the substantive hearing, where judges will determine whether the impeachment process complied with constitutional and legal requirements.
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Gachagua Wins First Round of Impeachment Hearing After Court Accepts Supplementary Affidavit
