Gachagua impeachment: Parliament extends public participation to Saturday
The National Assembly has extended the ongoing
public participation exercise on the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua impeachment
motion to Saturday to allow Kenyans to submit their views on the matter.
In a notice issued on Friday, Clerk of
the National Assembly Samuel Njoroge said the one-day extension came
following a High Court order.
Njoroge said the extension would allow
adequate time for all citizens to submit their views across the 290
constituencies countrywide.
The Clerk further noted that the public would
be allowed to gather at every Constituency or County Woman Representative’s office
from 8am to 5pm to take part in the exercise.
“Noting that the High Court of Kenya sitting
at Kerugoya acknowledged the public hearings of today, 4th October 2024, and
further ordered that the National Assembly organize similar public hearings
closer to the citizens at least at constituency level on each constituency in
Kenya to enable the constituents of Members of Parliament responsible for the
impeachment process nationally to engage with and participate on hearings
and/or any other suitable modes by which citizens at that level can participate
and offer their representations…” stated the notice.
“It is notified to the general public that, further
to the public participation exercise which commenced on 2nd October 2024, and
the collection of views across the venues and Constituency/County Women
Representative Offices on 4th October 2024, the 290 Constituency Offices and 47
County Women Representative Offices of all Members of the National Assembly,
which are offices under the Parliamentary Service Commission, shall remain open
on Saturday, 5th October 2024 from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm to facilitate further public
participation on the Special Motion.”
The High Court on Thursday ordered Parliament
to conduct a second round of public participation to ensure all Kenyans
participate in the process.
Justice Richard Mwongo of the Kerugoya Law
Courts deemed that the public participation stage must involve all Kenyans'
views and should not be conducted as a formality.
He explained that every public participation process must be clear for the
public to understand, have simple structures, offer a balanced influence from
the public, and be inclusive and transparent.
The exercise commenced on Friday, despite DP
Gachagua petitioning against the same.
In his petition, Gachagua contended that
holding the public participation exercise for just one day is "grossly
insufficient to facilitate any meaningful public participation."
According to the Constitution, the National
Assembly has a seven-day timeline, which expires on Tuesday, to decide on the
special motion to impeach Gachagua before the Senate takes up the matter.
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