Former DP Gachagua's impeachment case hearing postponed

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during the Mwai Kibaki 2nd Memorial Lecture and Luncheon at Nairobi Serena Hotel, on April 11, 2025. [David Gichuru, Standard]

The High Court on Thursday postponed the hearing of petitions filed by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his allies challenging his impeachment process.

The adjournment came after a Court of Appeal ruling declared the three-judge bench initially appointed to hear the cases, unconstitutional.

The hearing, expected to begin on Thursday, was deferred pending fresh directions from Chief Justice Martha Koome, who has been directed to appoint a new bench. The postponement was communicated through a notice issued by Assistant Deputy Registrar, Beja Nduke.

"Following the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on May 9, 2025, in Civil Appeal No. E829 of 2024, this matter, which was scheduled for mention on May 15, 2025, stands adjourned pending directions by the Chief Justice," the notice read.

On May 9, a three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal comprising Justices Daniel Musinga, Mumbi Ngugi, and Francis Tuiyott ruled that Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu acted outside her constitutional powers by empaneling the bench that was set to hear Gachagua's petitions.

"The discretion granted to the Chief Justice by Article 165(4) to empanel a bench is a power solely granted to the Chief Justice. It is the Chief Justice, and she alone, who can decide the number of judges to assign a matter," the judges said.

The court found that DCJ Mwilu could not act in the capacity of the Chief Justice and empanel a bench in her absence, emphasizing that the power to do so is exclusive to the Chief Justice.

While directing CJ Koome to constitute a new bench within 14 days, the Court of Appeal declined to bar any of the previously named judges, Justices Eric Ogola, Anthony Mrima, and Fredah Mugambi, from being reconsidered. It also declined a request by Gachagua and his team to compel the CJ to appoint a five-judge bench, stating that the decision on the number of judges rests entirely with the Chief Justice.