Kenya court to hear challenge to deputy leader's impeachment

NAIROBI - A Kenyan High Court is due Tuesday to hear an appeal by impeached Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over his ouster in an unprecedented Senate vote last week.

In fast-moving political drama, the court on Friday ordered the impeachment to be put on hold, only minutes after parliament had approved his replacement, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki.

Gachagua was impeached by the Senate on Thursday on five out of 11 charges levelled against him, including stirring ethnic divisions and undermining the judiciary.

The embattled 59-year-old had been admitted to hospital with chest pains ahead of the Senate session, but the upper house rejected an appeal by his lawyers for the process to be delayed.

The impeachment was the culmination of a public falling out between Gachagua and President William Ruto.

And after being released from hospital Gachagua on Sunday lashed out at his boss as "vicious" and claimed there had been attempts on his life in the past.

Gachagua said his security had been withdrawn and his entire staff sent on compulsory leave.

A three-judge bench at the High Court in Nairobi is due to start hearing Gachagua's impeachment appeal on Tuesday.

"The petition and application raise monumental constitutional issues," the High Court said in its ruling on Friday.

The order effectively blocks Kindiki, a 52-year-old lawyer turned heavyweight politician, from taking office.

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