NAIROBI – Kenya’s High Court yesterday began hearing an appeal by impeached deputy president Rigathi Gachagua over his ouster in an unprecedented Senate vote last week.

But as the proceedings got underway, president William Ruto filed an objection, saying the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case, and that it was a matter for the Supreme Court.

In a fast-moving and sometimes confusing saga that has plunged the upper echelons of Kenyan politics into disarray, the High Court in Nairobi on Friday ordered the historic impeachment to be put on hold.

Its ruling came just minutes after parliament had approved that interior minister Kithure Kindiki replaces Gachagua as Ruto’s deputy.

Gachagua, who was in court for yesterday’s hearing, was impeached by the Senate on Thursday on five out of 11 charges against him, including stirring ethnic divisions and undermining the judiciary.

The embattled 59-year-old has denied all the allegations, and his legal team had swiftly launched an appeal, alleging the process had been unfair and rushed.

“The petition and application raise monumental constitutional issues,” the High Court said in its ruling on Friday that blocked Kindiki from taking office.

The impeachment – the first time in Kenya that a deputy president has been removed from office in this manner – is the culmination of a public fallout between Gachagua and Ruto.

Analysts have suggested that Gachagua’s ouster could help Ruto consolidate his grip on power that has been shaken by anti-government demonstrations earlier this year, the biggest test of his two-year presidency.

Gachagua had been admitted to hospital with chest pains shortly before he was due to testify before the Senate, but the upper house rejected an appeal by his lawyers for the process to be delayed. After being discharged, Gachagua on Sunday lashed out at his boss as “vicious”, and claimed there had been attempts on his life in the past, including by poisoning his food. The powerful multi-millionaire businessman, known as “Riggy G”, also said his security had been withdrawn, and his entire staff sent on compulsory leave.

Ruto – who had chosen Gachagua as his running mate for the August 2022 election – has not given any public comment on the impeachment.

On Sunday, he called for the defence of “national values and principles of governance every day”, without making a direct reference to his impeached deputy.

Gachagua helped Ruto to victory in the closely-fought election race against veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga by rallying support from the crucial Mount Kenya region.

“I am shocked by how a man I helped to be president, believed in and was persecuted when I supported, could be so vicious against me,” Gachagua told reporters on Sunday.

“If anything happens to me or my family, president William Ruto must be held to account,” he said.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations on Monday had asked Gachagua to make a statement to police about what it described as “serious allegations” about attempts on his life. – Nampa/AFP