The Orange Democratic Party has distanced itself from Tuesday’s impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua saying it had nothing to do with it.
Deputy party leader Abdulswamad Nassir Hassan says the ouster was purely a parliamentary process exercised by MPs in their individual capacity as people’s representatives.
“Hayo hayatuhusu sisi, wabunge wamefanya kivyao (It doesn’t concern us, MPs acted individually) we respect their decision; it was not a party decision, it was not sanctioned by the party,” he said.
“We respect the independence of Parliament and in totality National Assembly and the Senate."
The Mombasa Governor was speaking in the coastal city at Aldina Visram School a day after MPs from the government and opposition sides united in a rare show of solidarity and overwhelmingly voted to impeach Gachagua on 11 alleged accusations.
Only 44 MPs present in the House disagreed with the decision to remove the deputy president from office but 281 of their colleagues voted to send him home. One opted not to vote.
Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi on Wednesday gazetted a two-day session beginning Wednesday, October 16, for the plenary to hear the charges against the embattled DP.
A motion by majority leader, Aaron Cheruiyot, for the House to appoint an 11-member special committee to hear the matter was defeated after Nairobi Senator, Edwin Sifuna, declined to second it, saying the motion was of public interest and deserved to be heard by the committee of the whole House in the full glare of cameras.
Nassir said decisions made by ODM members on the floor of the House regarding the proposed impeachment of Gachagua are not party-related.
He said ODM remains focused on clinching power in 2027 through the ballot and called on the government to facilitate the issuance of ID cards in high schools to enable the youth to express their voices on Election Day.
“We need the voices of the people to be heard, and it can only be heard when they have voter’s cards. 2027 we will be on the forefront because with ODM, we would not hear of shareholding in government or impeachment.”
Nassir, who was accompanied by his joint deputy party leader, Kisii Governor Simba Arati, collectively condemned leaders spearheading politics of balkanization instead of promoting unity among Kenyans.
“It’s our firm belief, and we will remind you when the time comes because those complaining that things are bad are the same ones who opposed us in the last elections.”