In a landmark ruling that reshapes Kenya’s political landscape months ahead of a general election, the country’s High Court has formally upheld the 2024 impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, permanently barring him from holding any public office. The decision comes after months of legal wrangling following Gachagua’s dramatic ouster, which capped a bitter public falling out with his former political ally, President William Ruto.
Three presiding High Court judges rejected all of Gachagua’s legal challenges to his impeachment, including his core claim that the entire removal process was driven by political bias and manufactured to sideline him. While the court did acknowledge a procedural violation—finding Kenya’s Senate had infringed on Gachagua’s right to due process when it refused to adjourn impeachment proceedings after he fell ill mid-hearing—judges ruled this error did not rise to the level of invalidating the final removal result. As partial redress for the rights violation, the court awarded Gachagua 50 million Kenyan shillings, equivalent to roughly $386,000, in damages.
Gachagua, who once ran alongside Ruto on a winning joint election ticket in 2022, had been expected to attend the 350-page ruling’s public release but was absent from court. His legal team has already announced plans to appeal the decision, framing the outcome as a politically motivated miscarriage of justice.
The impeachment of Gachagua followed a rapid and public collapse of his political partnership with Ruto, just two years after the pair won the presidency by leveraging Gachagua’s deep popularity in Mount Kenya, the traditional political heartland of the Kikuyu ethnic community, Kenya’s largest voting bloc. After splitting from Ruto, Gachagua reemerged as one of the president’s fiercest public critics, building a large and loyal grassroots following in his home region and repeatedly rallying opposition to Ruto’s administration. Kenya’s Senate voted by an overwhelming majority to remove Gachagua from office last year, advancing charges of corruption, incitement of ethnic conflict, and sabotage of government operations. Gachagua has repeatedly denied all accusations, calling them baseless, politically motivated attempts to end his career.
Alongside upholding Gachagua’s removal, the court’s ruling on Monday formally confirmed the appointment of Kithure Kindiki, Gachagua’s replacement as deputy president, cementing the executive branch’s new leadership structure ahead of 2027 general elections. For Gachagua, the ruling delivers a major blow to his long-rumored ambition to run for president in next year’s election, as the lifetime ban on holding public office rules out a presidential candidacy.
Ahead of the verdict, Gachagua publicly urged his supporters to avoid unrest, saying he was prepared for any outcome and hoped the court would deliver justice both for him and his millions of supporters across the country. He also signaled his intent to continue challenging Ruto through the electoral process, telling followers to prepare to “express their anger at the ballot box” when Kenya heads to the polls next year.
Gachagua’s impeachment last year took place against a backdrop of growing public unrest across Kenya. Months before his ouster, widespread anti-government protests rocked the country, triggered by unpopular new tax hikes that the Ruto administration ultimately was forced to roll back. Protesters breached parliamentary security and set part of the building on fire during the demonstrations, and a subsequent crackdown by security forces left dozens of protesters dead. Public discontent with the administration has persisted in the months since, with new large-scale demonstrations held just last month to protest skyrocketing fuel prices.