Clashes in Kenya as people discuss the deputy president’s impeachment motion

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Supporters and opponents of Kenya’s deputy president clashed Friday at public forums over an impeachment motion against him, which was introduced in parliament by the ruling alliance this week. Rigathi Gachagua is accused of supporting anti-government protests in June and of being involved in corruption and other irregularities, charges he denies.

A motion for the impeachment of Gachagua was proposed in parliament on Tuesday and Kenyans were given until Friday to fill out public participation forms at their constituencies. Public forums are being held across the country to discuss the impeachment.

In the capital, Nairobi, a public forum at the Bomas of Kenya turned violent as supporters of President William Ruto clashed with those supporting Gachagua. Chairs were thrown in the auditorium and an activist Morara Kebaso, known for exposing stalled government projects, said he had been injured.

In central Kenya’s Nyeri county, police clashed with supporters of the deputy president as they chanted that there would be no president if his deputy is impeached. The two were elected on a joint ticket.

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In Nyandarua county, opponents were called out as being traitors and were chased out of the community hall.

Some 291 legislators, more than the 117 constitutional requirement, signed the impeachment motion before it was introduced, but a number of them from the deputy president’s home tuff say they no longer support the motion after hearing contrary views from their constituents.

“If the deputy president is guilty, then his boss the president is equally guilty,” a woman supporter told Citizen TV.

Gachagua is facing impeachment on 10 grounds that include corruption, ethnic discrimination and contradicting government policies.

He has maintained that he is innocent and has vowed to fight the impeachment motion.

The high court on Thursday declined to stop Friday’s public participation and set next Wednesday as the date for the hearing.

President Ruto has not weighed into his deputy’s impeachment debate.

He is on record in the earlier days of his presidency saying he would not publicly humiliate his deputy, alluding to the troubled relationship he had with his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta during their second term in office.

The senate is expected to hear the impeachment motion on Tuesday next week.