NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s deputy president was taken to hospital with chest pains Thursday as the country’s Senate debated an impeachment motion against him on charges including support for anti-government protests.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 11 charges of impeachment, and had been expected to be cross-examined by lawyers from the Parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly, in the afternoon.
The hearing was briefly adjourned Thursday after Gachagua was hospitalized and his lawyers asked for a pause to give him until Tuesday to appear before the chamber. However, Assembly lawyers said Gachagua’s defense already had been presented and that the Senate was bound by the constitution to continue the proceedings.
The motion was set for a vote in the Senate later Thursday, and a two-thirds majority would mean that Gachagua is immediately removed from office. The Assembly overwhelmingly voted last week to impeach the deputy president.
Gachagua faces allegations that include corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and support for anti-government protests that saw demonstrators storm the Parliament. It is the first time a sitting deputy president is facing impeachment in Kenya.
The case highlights divisions within the ruling party of President William Ruto, and friction between Ruto and Gachagua over government policy. The deputy president had been accused of insubordination when he opposed the government’s policy of forced evictions during heavy rains that caused flooding and deaths.
During his defense before the Assembly last week, Gachagua said he believed the impeachment motion had the president’s nod, and he has asked legislators to make their decision “without intimidation and coercion.” Ruto has not commented publicly on the impeachment.
Gachagua’s lawyer Paul Muite said Thursday that doctors told him the deputy president was suffering from “intense chest pains” and needed “complete rest.”
Dan Gikonyo, a doctor at Karen Hospital, told journalists outside the facility that the deputy president would be observed for up to three days. “Stress can cause heart problems and the DP is definitely in a lot of stress,” Dr. Gikonyo said.
Earlier Thursday, lawyers had cross-examined witnesses presented by the Assembly the previous day, including the legislator who moved the impeachment motion and the anticorruption agency’s boss. At one point Gachagua’s legal team asked to expunge the affidavit of a key witness, the elected governor for the capital Nairobi, after the governor failed to turn up.
The tensions over Gachagua’s impeachment risk introducing more uncertainty for investors and others in East Africa’s commercial hub.
Ruto, who came to office claiming to represent Kenya’s poorest citizens, has faced widespread criticism for his efforts to raise taxes in an effort to find ways to pay off foreign creditors. But the public opposition led him to shake up his cabinet and back off certain proposals.
