Kalonzo: Junet’s bribery remarks prove Gachagua was unlawfully impeached

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has revived questions over the legality of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's impeachment, pointing to recent remarks by National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed as grounds for fresh scrutiny of the process.

Kalonzo argues that Junet’s comments, claiming that some lawmakers financially benefited from the October 2024 impeachment, cast doubt on the integrity of the parliamentary proceedings that led to Gachagua’s removal.

Speaking during a Sunday service at ACK All Saints Cathedral in Embu Town, Kalonzo said the remarks should not be treated lightly, particularly because Parliament exercises a constitutional mandate when considering the removal of a Deputy President.

“That admission alone shows clearly that Rigathi was improperly impeached,” Kalonzo said.

Junet recently stirred controversy while addressing a public gathering in Bungoma County, where he made reference to MPs allegedly benefiting from Gachagua’s impeachment.

“Impeachment doesn’t happen every day. If you got something from Gachagua’s impeachment, at least build a good home,” Junet said.

His remarks have, however, handed Gachagua and other opposition figures fresh ammunition to challenge the political circumstances surrounding his removal.

Kalonzo said any legislator who publicly acknowledges receiving an inducement in the course of performing a constitutional duty should face questions over their suitability to continue holding public office.

“By your own admission, Mr. Junet, you have acknowledged that what you did was wrong. Those who have confessed publicly that they were bribed should never again be allowed to hold public office,” he said.

He invoked Chapter Six of the Constitution, which establishes standards of leadership and integrity for State officers.

The Wiper leader further argued that evidence of improper influence on lawmakers would raise broader questions about whether the impeachment process satisfied constitutional standards.

Gachagua was removed from office in October 2024 after the National Assembly overwhelmingly backed an impeachment motion sponsored by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse.

The matter subsequently moved to the Senate, which upheld several of the charges against him, bringing his tenure as Kenya’s second Deputy President under the 2010 Constitution to an end.

Gachagua has maintained that his removal was politically engineered and unconstitutional.

His legal challenge suffered a setback in June 2026 when a three-judge High Court bench upheld the impeachment. The court, however, found that the Senate violated his right to a fair hearing when it declined to adjourn proceedings after he was hospitalised.

The court awarded him Ksh.50 million in constitutional damages but stopped short of reversing the impeachment. Gachagua has appealed the decision.

"We are asking our courts and our judges to take Judicial notice of what these people are saying. If they are confessing in public they were bribed then the judges must dispense justice. It is what we have always known," said Gachagua during consultations with a party delegation from Nyeri on Wednesday.