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.