Lawyer Willis Otieno: Why Gachagua's impeachment trial was flawed

Appearing on Citizen TV's Daybreak Show, the counsel argued that the senators did not give the former DP a chance to defend his case and proceeded to conclude the trial. 

The senators declined a notice of motion to adjourn the trial to Saturday after Gachagua was admitted to Karen Hospital and could not take the witness stand. 

According to Otieno, the process was already politically instigated as the senators had already made up their minds to conclude the matter by Thursday. 

"They were pretending to be fair (approving 5 out of 11 grounds). What would have stopped the senators to reconvene on Saturday? It means the Senators had made up their minds to conclude by Thursday. They should have just given him time to speak," the lawyer stated. 

"Those timelines provided in the Constitution cannot be superior than the right to be heard. In my view, the Senate missed on the legal question by a mile."

"The sad thing is that to an extent that you deny someone in hospital to appear. Nobody should be denied an opportunity to defend themselves. The right to be heard is an absolute right, it can never be taken away."

He added that Gachagua became the proverbial scapegoat for his former boss, President William Ruto's sins as his fate was already sealed.

Otieno argued that the National Assembly ought to have filed impeachment motions for both Ruto and Gachagua as they came as a package deal. 

"When you say Gachagua is promoting national disunity, Ruto in terms of senior appointments to parastatals, his tribesmen are holding the gold medal. Gachagua is just a spokesperson," Otieno noted.

"If it's division of wealth, Ruto's wealth in the last years as DP and president is not commensurate with his salary as a DP or a president but has acquired colossal sums of money," he alleged. 

On the other hand, the counsel noted that Gachagua's past remarks led to his ultimate downfall; a case of a pawn trying to please his master but ended up paying the ultimate price. 

"If it was about accountability, the National Assembly should have brought a motion for Ruto and Gachagua. I'm not saying he is any angel because his conduct in the past, has an acerbic tongue. 

Following Gachagua's removal from office through an official gazette notice, President Ruto has proposed Interior CS Kithure Kindiki as DP nominee to the National Assembly.