Kenya’s President Nominates Interior Minister to Replace Impeached Deputy President Gachagua

President William Ruto of Kenya nominated Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki as his new deputy on Friday following the Senate’s impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua.

Ruto’s choice of Kindiki as deputy is publicly considered a nomination of a close ally, though it still requires parliament’s approval.

Kindiki’s nomination was disclosed by the speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula, who said he had received a message from President Ruto to the effect.

An overwhelming 282 members of the National Assembly voted for Gachagua’s impeachment. A two-thirds majority of the 67 senators in the Senate also endorsed the “Special Motion” to remove him on Thursday.

Gachagua was impeached on five of 11 charges involving violation of the Kenyan Constitution by undermining the government, stirring ethnic hatred, and corruption. All of which he denied.

He has since said he would challenge his impeachment, which a three-member panel has been allocated to address.

Kinidiki’s nomination, which came barely a day after Gachagua’s impeachment, will take 60 days for the National Assembly to deliberate upon, as Ruto, by Kenyan Constitution, has 14 days to present a nominee.

Related New: Kenyan Deputy President Gachagua Misses Senate Impeachment Trial Due to ‘Illness’, His Lawyer Says

With the impeachment, however, Gachagua became the first deputy president to be removed from office through impeachment since it was introduced in Kenya’s 2010 constitution.

Meanwhile, Gachagua was once a close ally to President Ruto, considering his backing, which helped secure a large block of votes in the central Kenya region in his 2022 election victory.

Kindiki, on the other hand, was a top contender to the now-impeached Gachagua, who wanted to be Ruto’s running mate during the 2022 election and was appointed interior minister shortly after the president took office in September that year.

Despite allegations from rights groups that Interior Minister Kindiki, who oversees the police, allowed excessive force during June’s anti-finance bill demonstrations, President Ruto nominated him to replace Rigathi Gachagua, pending approval by the National Assembly.

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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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