Kenya Swears in New Deputy President After Legal Challenges

Kenya’s former Minister of Interior, Kithure Kindiki, was sworn in on Friday as the new Deputy President after a court lifted orders barring his inauguration.

Before Kindiki’s inauguration, the Senate voted to impeach Rigathi Gachagua, the previous deputy president, from office in October on five of 11 charges, including violation of Kenya’s Constitution by undermining the government [Ruto], stirring ethnic hatred, and corruption.

Gachagua denied all the charges and dismissed them as “politically motivated”. However, Kenya’s court had put Kindiki’s inauguration on hold as Gachagua’s lawyer had filed over 30 cases in recent weeks, challenging both his impeachment and the appointment of Kindiki by President William Ruto.

On Thursday, October 31, 2024, a three-judge panel led by Judge Antony Mrima with Judges Eric Ogola and Freda Mugambi lifted the order stopping Kindiki’s swearing-in.

The court ruled against Gachagua’s prayer on Kindiki’s nomination because the deputy president position need not remain vacant according to Kenya’s constitution.

Gachagua’s impeachment, however, emanated after President Ruto invited four members of the Orange Democratic Movement, ODM, an opposition party, as ministers into his cabinet.

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President Ruto’s political realignment of cabinet sidelined Gachagua despite helping secure a large block of votes from the Mount Kenyan region, Gachagua’s home region. More so, Mount Kenya block votes played a significant role in Ruto’s defeat of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga of the ODM party in the closely fought 2022 presidential election.

In addition, Kindiki was a top contender vying to be Ruto’s running mate during the 2022 presidential election and was appointed interior minister shortly after the president took office in September of that year.

Nonetheless, following Kindiki’s swearing-in, Ruto charged the new deputy president to “serve the people of Kenya equally, those who voted for us and those who did not vote for us,” adding, ‘The government of Kenya equally belongs to all the people.’

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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