Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at the Senate (PHOTO: FILE)
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s replacement is expected to be named on Friday after his removal from office by impeachment on Thursday.
The Senate voted on Thursday night to uphold five of the 11 charges brought against him by Kibwezi West MP Mwingi Mutuse.
President William Ruto is said to have already forwarded the name of his preferred DP to the National Assembly which has convened for Special Sittings on Friday morning and afternoon.
While the Order Paper did not include the approval of the DP as part of the business, speculations are high that Gachagua’s replacement will be part of the agenda.
Insiders said Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, who lost out to Gachagua in the DP selection process in 2022, was the frontrunner.
Indicatively, former Cabinet Secretary and President Ruto’s Senior Economic Advisor Moses Kuria, hinted that the position was going to Mount Kenya East.
Kindiki hails from Tharaka Nithi, which is part of Mount Kenya East.
“In 2022, we paid external debts by voting for a non-Mt Kenya candidate. The time has come for us to complete the debt-paying season by paying our domestic debt through supporting our Embu and Meru siblings to lead us,” Kuria posted on his official social media accounts.
“History will charge us right. Take it from your economist son.”
Once the name is received, the National Assembly will begin approval procedures before the nominee is formally appointed and sworn into office.
Opinion is divided among analysts on the conduct of approval hearings to vet the nominee. Some say the law is silent on the matter.
According to the Constitution, when a vacancy in the office of the Deputy President arises, President Ruto is expected to nominate a person to fill the vacancy, and the National Assembly shall vote on the nomination within sixty days of receiving it.
“Within fourteen days after a vacancy in the office of Deputy President arises, the President shall nominate a person to fill the vacancy and the National Assembly shall vote on the nomination within sixty days after receiving it,” reads Article 149(1) of the Constitution.
This means that nothing is barring President Ruto from announcing Gachagua’s replacement within hours after the Senate’s decision.
Nothing also stops the House from considering and approving the nominee’s name on the first of the provided sixty days.
Article 148(6)(c) says a vacancy in the office of the DP can arise on resignation, death or removal from office of the Deputy President.
In Gachagua’s case on impeachment, the vacancy arose immediately after the Senate voted on Thursday night.
Senate Speaker Amason Kingi gazetted the house’s resolution to impeach Gachagua immediately after senators voted on Thursday night.
After his removal from office, Gachagua will forfeit sweeping benefits accorded to retired and former deputy presidents as he is deemed not to have served a full term.
“If a person assumes office as Deputy President under clause (1), then, for the purposes of Article 148 (8), the person shall be deemed (a) to have served a full term as Deputy President if, at the date on which the person assumed office, more than two and a half years remain before the date of the next regularly scheduled election under Article 136 (2) (a); or (b) not to have served a term of office as Deputy President, in any other case,” reads Article 149(1).
Gachagua completed two years in office on September 13 and would have served two and a half years by February 13, 2025.
The law requires that once MPs vote in favour of the DP nominee, the person shall then take the oath of office as provided for under the Assumption of Office of the President Act.
The Act states that the Deputy President-elect shall take and subscribe to the oath or affirmation of allegiance and oath or affirmation for the execution of the functions of office in accordance with Article 148 of the Constitution.
Article 148(4) provides that the swearing-in of the Deputy President-elect shall be before the Chief Justice or, in the absence of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice and in public.
