Senate to appeal High Court’s Sh50m fair-hearing damages for Gachagua, says Cheruyiot

The Senate will challenge the High Court's decision to award former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua Sh50 million for violation of his right to a fair hearing, with Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot maintaining that the House gave him sufficient opportunity to defend himself during the impeachment proceedings.

Speaking on Tuesday, June 9, Cheruiyot said the Senate disagreed with the court's conclusion that Gachagua was denied a fair trial, arguing that the former Deputy President had been granted adequate time and avenues to present his case before lawmakers.

According to Cheruiyot, the Senate conducted the proceedings in line with its mandate and did not deny Gachagua the chance to respond to the allegations that led to his removal from office.

He further accused Gachagua of attempting to delay the proceedings instead of fully participating in the hearing.

“As the Senate, we shall definitely appeal the High Court's finding on a fair trial. We accorded Gachagua the opportunity to be heard orally and via his filed submissions. He chose, as most impeached persons do when they appear before the Senate, to deploy delay tactics. We said no,” Cheruiyot said.

His remarks came hours after a three-judge bench upheld Parliament's decision to impeach Gachagua, dismissing a series of consolidated petitions that sought to overturn his removal from office.

In a judgment delivered on Monday, June 8, Justices Eric Ogolla, Anthony Mrima and Fridah Mugambi ruled that Parliament acted within the law throughout the impeachment process.

The court dismissed claims that Parliament lacked the authority to conduct the impeachment because of non-compliance with the two-thirds gender principle, finding that the issue did not take away Parliament's constitutional responsibility to hear and determine impeachment proceedings.

The judges also upheld the Parliamentary Standing Orders applied during the process, ruling that both the National Assembly and the Senate followed lawful procedures while handling the matter.

On the issue of public participation, the bench found that the National Assembly carried out the exercise in accordance with constitutional requirements.

However, the judges concluded that Gachagua's right to a fair hearing had been violated during the Senate trial after his request for an adjournment was declined despite his absence from the proceedings.

The court held that the decision denied him adequate opportunity to present his case, amounting to a breach of his constitutional right to a fair trial.

As a result, the judges awarded Gachagua Sh50 million in damages payable by the Senate.

Despite the finding, the court maintained that the violation was not sufficient to invalidate the impeachment, allowing Parliament's decision to remove Gachagua from office to stand.