A Kenyan High Court has upheld the impeachment of Kenya's former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, although it observed that Gachagua's right to a fair trial was infringed upon by the Senate after the legislative house proceeded with an impeachment exercise in October 2024 while the former deputy president was in hospital.

The court ruled that it could not overstep into parliament's functions by weighing in on Gachagua's impeachment grounds, saying that an impeachment process is largely the legislature's function and that the judiciary can only intervene when constitutional and procedural rights of a petitioner are violated.

The three-judge bench ordered that Gachagua, who was unwell during the Senate proceedings in October 2024, must be paid 50 million Kenyan shillings ($386,500) by the Senate after his right to be heard was infringed upon.

However, the overall outcome of his impeachment was upheld, with the court saying that it could not rule on the impeachment grounds, which it termed a preserve for parliament.

Public participation

The court further ruled that Gachagua's successor, Kithure Kindiki, was lawfully appointed to office, and, therefore, the ex-deputy president could not be reinstated, as that would cause a "dual-incumbency" constitutional crisis.

Gachagua, through his lawyers, had also argued that adequate public participation was not conducted before Kenya's respective houses of parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, heard the charges levelled against him.

Reading the court's verdict on that matter, Judge Freda Mugambi said that public participation must not be "flawless" for it to be perceived to have been constitutionally conducted. She added that there was evidence that "doors were open" to the public to facilitate the submission of their views on the grounds for impeaching Gachagua.

For his part, Judge Eric Ogola, dismissed Gachagua's argument that speakers of both houses of parliament appeared to have taken sides even before the impeachment process could end. The judge said the speakers played a dual observer-arbiter role, which was "procedural and facilitative" of a constitutional process.

Fallout

Gachagua was impeached on 11 charges, including publicly uttering remarks that were deemed to be ethnically divisive.

The 61-year-old was jointly elected with President William Ruto in Kenya's 2022 general election under the ticket of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.

The pair, however, publicly fell out after Kenya's June 2024 anti-tax-hike protests, with Gachagua claiming that he had opposed the government's move to introduce additional taxes.

Before ascending to the position of deputy president, Gachagua had served as a member of parliament, representing the central Kenya's constituency of Mathira for five years, from 2017 until 2022.

Taken ill

Following his impeachment, Gachagua, who had initially sought his reinstatement before dropping that application, started his own political party, Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), in May 2025. DCP now serves as a leading opposition party in Kenya.

Gachagua had requested the court to overturn his impeachment, and also remedy the said-infringement of his rights with damages.

The former deputy president said he had been taken ill on the day he was supposed to respond to 11 charges levelled against him by the Senate. Gachagua said lawmakers went ahead to try him in absentia, thereby breaching his right to be heard.

The court, whose verdict on this issue was read by Judge Antony Mrima, agreed with Gachagua, but said an impeachment being a largely political process, it could not overstep into parliament's realm.

In Kenya, an impeached leader stands barred from running for election. The lawyers representing Gachagua, who harbours a future presidential ambition, said they would appeal against the High Court verdict, which as is currently, technically locks him out from seeking election in the future if he fails to lodge an appeal against his impeachment.