NAIROBI, Kenya- The High Court has found that the National Assembly conducted constitutionally sufficient public participation during the impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and ruled that allegations of bias, predetermination and conflict of interest against parliamentary actors were not supported by evidence.
In a judgment delivered on Monday, Justice Freda Mugambi said the public participation exercise undertaken by the National Assembly met the constitutional threshold required under the law.
“We are satisfied and hereby find that the public participation conducted by the National Assembly in connection with the impeachment of H.E. Gachagua as Deputy President met the requisite constitutional threshold in all material respects,” Justice Mugambi said.
The court also found that the Senate did not violate Articles 10 and 118 of the Constitution by failing to conduct a separate public participation exercise.
“We find that the Senate did not violate Article 10 or 118 by failing to conduct its own independent public participation,” the judge ruled.
The bench further held that the adequacy of public participation should not be determined by the number of people who took part in the process.
“The adequacy of the public participation exercise ought not to be measured by the number of members of the public who ultimately chose to engage or by whether any particular outcome was achieved,” Justice Mugambi said.
“The true measure is whether the State discharged its obligation to create conditions in which meaningful participation was genuinely possible,” she added.
The court also ruled that low turnout and the unavailability of Gachagua’s response to members of the public during the participation exercise did not render the process constitutionally deficient.
On claims that parliamentary leaders and lawmakers were biased during the impeachment proceedings, the court found that the allegations were not supported by evidence.
The judges held that claims of bias, predetermination and conflict of interest against the Speakers of the National Assembly and Senate, Members of Parliament and Senators had not been proved.
The judgment also addressed the appointment of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki following the vacancy created by Gachagua’s removal from office.
The court ruled that public participation was not required in the nomination of a Deputy President, finding that neither the Constitution nor statute expressly provides for public involvement in that process.
President William Ruto nominated Kindiki after the vacancy arose in the Office of the Deputy President.
The National Assembly subsequently approved the nomination before Kindiki was sworn into office.
