Kenya’s upper house of parliament is set to vote Thursday on whether to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office in an unprecedented political saga that has gripped the nation.

The Senate will give its verdict at the end of the second day of an impeachment trial against the embattled number two to President William Ruto.

It follows a historic vote last week in the lower house, the National Assembly, to impeach Gachagua on 11 charges including corruption, insubordination, undermining the government and practising ethnically divisive politics.

A trial in the Senate began Wednesday after the 59-year-old, also known as “Riggy G”, failed in multiple court bids to halt the process.

The outspoken politican arrived at parliament on Thursday, shortly before the session opened, and is expected to testify in his defence later.

Gachagua has denied all the charges — and no criminal proceedings have been launched against him — but he will automatically be removed from office if the Senate approves his impeachment.

If this happens, he would be the first deputy president to be ousted in this manner since impeachment was introduced in Kenya’s revised 2010 constitution.

Gachagua, who has protested that he is being treated like a “spent cartridge”, can however fight the impeachment in the courts once the parliamentary process is completed.

Among the names of possible successors floated by the Kenyan media are Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, Foreign Minister and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and a county governor, Anne Waiguru.

Gachagua’s chances of survival are slim if opposition members in the 67-seat Senate back the ruling party as witnessed in the National Assembly vote on October 9.

Unlike the process in the lower house, where MPs delivered their verdict on the entire motion, senators need to back just one charge, by at least two-thirds of the votes, for the impeachment to succeed.

An overwhelming 282 MPs in the 349-member assembly had overwhelmingly voted to impeach Gachagua, well over the more than two-thirds required.

A powerful businessman from Kenya’s biggest tribe, the Kikuyu, Gachagua weathered previous corruption scandals to become deputy leader as Ruto’s running mate in the closely fought 2022 election.

But in recent weeks, he has complained of being sidelined by the president, while also being accused of supporting youth-led anti-government protests that broke out in June.

Political tensions have been running high since the sometimes deadly demonstrations erupted over unpopular tax hikes, exposing divisions in the top echelons of power.

At a media briefing ahead of last week’s vote, Gachagua vehemently rejected what he called “nonsensical allegations” and said the efforts to oust him disregarded the will of the Kenyan people in 2022.

Source: akeliciousnews

The Federal Government, via the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), has directed Nigerians living around river banks along the River Benue Basin to quickly move to safer grounds.

This was contained in a statement on Thursday, NIHSA Director General, Umar Mohammed, warned that water on the River Benue has reached the flooding level due to increased rainfall.

He also urged those along the River Niger to move to a safe location as the management of Kainji and Jebba Dams are working to control the floodwaters.

The NIHSA boss urged Nigerians to cooperate with the emergency management agencies and work together to build resilience against flooding in Nigeria and minimise the effects of the flood.

Recently, the government warned Nigerians to relocate to safe ground after the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. This followed the release of water from the overflowing Alau Dam killed over 30 persons and swept away thousands of homes in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State.

In 2022, flooding ravaged many states, claimed 665 lives, displaced 2,437,411 persons, and affected 4,476,867 persons, according to data from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Recall in 2023, devastating floods affected 159,157 individuals, caused the loss of 28 lives, and displaced 48,168. The release of water from the Lagdo Dam contributed to some of the flooding cases experienced.

For 2024, NEMA said flooding affected 1,048,312 people between April and September 2024, displaced 625,239 persons and killed 259 lives.

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

A bill seeking the creation of Ogoja State has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.

The bill, sponsored by Godwin Offiono and three other on during plenary on Thursday.

The constitution alteration bill seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution to create an additional state in the South-south region.

If the bill is passed into law, it would bring the number of states in the South-south region to seven.
The bill scaled second reading without any opposition from members and was referred to the House Committee on Constitution Review.