The impeachment motion against embattled Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua could be tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the Star has established.
It emerged on Thursday that more than 250 MPs from Kenya Kwanza and Azimio had signed the petition to remove the DP.
A motion to impeach the Deputy President requires signatures of at least 116 members of the National Assembly.
The signature collection is spearheaded by the offices of majority and minority leaders.
On Thursday, the office of Minority Leader Junet Mohamed was a beehive of activity as MPs thronged to sign the petition.
MPs who had not signed the document were ordered out of committees.
By press time, over 120 MPs from Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza had appended their signatures while slightly over 100 opposition MPs had also signed.
The signature collection had been running for two days – Wednesday and Thursday.
It followed a series of night meetings, where members sat according to their regions to caucus on the impeachment.
President William Ruto’s Rift Valley MPs had a nightlong meeting at a hotel along Lang'ata Road, where they were whipped to sign the petition and support the motion when it is tabled.
Western Kenya MPs on Thursday held a lunchtime meeting in Parliament, whose main agenda was to whip support for the impeachment motion.
“I think, where it has reached, he (DP) is going home. We have been told to leave the committee and go sign the petition,” an MP told the Star.
According to insiders, a lean team is working on the motion. They are reportedly considering a dossier against the DP for the period he has been in office.
A source in the House leadership told the Star the team was holed up in a crucial meeting.
“Not that we have the grounds but the experts – consisting of some nine members – are combing through to address any gaps,” the highly placed source said.
“By Tuesday, we shall be good to go. No turning back.”
The House leadership was however still exploring the sponsor of the motion, with the opposition MPs reportedly insisting he or she must come from Kenya Kwanza.
“As much as we are all supporting the motion, we have made it clear that they have one of them sponsor it or else we would be accused of rocking the KK boat,” an MP from Nyanza told the Star.
The seasoned lawmaker was upbeat the motion will easily sail through.
“All Mt Kenya MPs including in diaspora are 71. Should the 18 Wiper MPs decide not to vote with us, that will bring the tally to 99. Even if you take away another 17 MPs, who might change their mind, abstain or absent themselves, we will manage 116,” he said.
“This leaves us with 233, the threshold needed to pass the motion.”
The constitution requires an impeachment motion to be supported by two-thirds, which translates to 233 votes in the National Assembly and 45 in the Senate.
Kenya Kwanza has 231 MPs in the National Assembly, 179 elected through the coalition and others poached from the opposition.
Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance party has 139 MPs, Ford Kenya six, while the Musalia Mudavadi-linked Amani National Congress has six.
Raila Odinga’s ODM has the highest count of MPs on the minority side, 85. The number could add to Ruto’s after the party leader closed ranks with UDA.
Though the grounds for impeachment have remained a tightly guarded secret, Gachagua’s critics have accused him of being a divisive figure who concentrates state resources under his purview in Mt Kenya.
The DP is also accused of sponsoring the June-July Gen Z protests.
On Thursday, he disclosed that his critics were burning the midnight oil to use the youth-led chaos as grounds to send him home.
“This evil scheme is to associate them with violent demonstrations that took place in late June, in a futile attempt to soil my name and hopefully create grounds for the mooted impeachment proceedings against me,” Gachagua said in a statement.
He is also accused of sabotaging the government, pushing sectarian interests and perpetuating tribalism.
On Thursday, there were reports the DP was making overtures to his boss through elders and religious leaders to stop the process that threatens his political career.
Article 150 of the constitution says the Deputy President may be removed from office on grounds of physical or mental incapacity and impeachment.
Impeachment can be on the grounds of gross violation of the law, committing a crime under national or international law, and or gross misconduct.
The motion must be supported by at least 233 MPs before it moves to the Senate.
The Speaker of the Senate has seven days to convene a meeting to hear the charges.
The Senate, by resolution, may appoint a special committee comprising 11 members to investigate the matter and report within 10 days.
If the committee reports that the particulars of any allegation against the Deputy President have not been substantiated, further proceedings shall not be taken.
If the special committee substantiates any of the charges, the Senate shall vote on the impeachment charges after allowing the Deputy President to be heard.
Pro-impeachment MPs continued hitting at the DP, whom they blame for the woos facing him.
“We have the DP going overboard trying to undercut his boss, William Ruto. We believe this is a relationship, and just like a marriage when one partner goes out and reveals to the whole world how the marriage is not working, if you go to any court of law, that marriage should be annulled,” Soy MP David Kiplagat said.
