National Assembly deputy speaker and Uasin Gishu Woman Rep Gladys Boss Shollei has faulted the lawyers of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for storming out of the Senate impeachment trial.
During a panel TV interview on Monday, November 4, 2024, Shollei strongly countered claims by Makueni senator Dan Maanzo that Gachagua was not given a chance to be heard during the senate trial.
Shollei detailed the procedural aspects of the Senate trial, asserting that all relevant evidence had been presented well before the impeachment hearing began, and emphasized that Gachagua had effectively been heard through his sworn affidavit.
“What happens is when you file your documentation for Senate, you actually file your sworn affidavit together with all your evidence attached running into hundreds of pages.
“What happened is when Rigathi Gachagua fell sick and left and did not come back, it’s not that he had not been heard because even if he had stood there he would have only stuck within what he had put in his affidavit.
“His evidence was already before the Senate and had been served days before. So he cannot say ‘I was not heard because I did not appear to speak verbally’.
“In fact, normally you are basically highlighting and sometimes the witness stands up and says I am adopting everything that is in my affidavit and I am not saying anything,” she explained.
Shollei further claimed that the movers of the impeachment motion were the ones who were prejudiced when his lawyers walked out of the Senate.
“In fact, the people who were prejudiced was now the owner of the motion because they did not get the opportunity to cross-examine him.”
The National Assembly deputy speaker further fingered Gachagua’s lawyers for storming out of the Senate impeachment trial, saying the move amounted to misconduct and did not help their client.
“I remember when the lawyers stormed out of the Senate. You know you cannot storm out of a trial court, which is what the Senate was, and then rush to another trial court and expect to get an audience.
“The minimum they could have done as senior counsels was to remain, because they already had instructions and all the evidence and all the affidavits of their client, they could have still had the opportunity to highlight it if they wanted.
“In fact, I am shocked that people like that can be given an audience and that is sometimes becoming misconduct on the part of lawyers,” Shollei said.
The impeachment
Rigathi Gachagua’s lawyers walked out of the Senate on October 17, 2024, after their request to postpone the impeachment trial to October 22, 2024, was rejected.
Lead counsel Paul Muite appealed to Senate speaker Amason Kingi to suspend the impeachment trial, citing Gachagua’s hospitalization due to severe chest pains as grounds for the delay.
However, the Senate dismissed the request and instead voted to continue the impeachment trial.
Following the decision, Gachagua’s lawyers sought permission to withdraw from delivering their closing arguments before the Senate.
“Because we do not have clear instruction from our client, we seek leave not to make our closing statement,” Muite said.
After the walkout, speaker Kingi permitted the defence (the movers of the impeachment motion at the National Assembly) to deliver their closing statements in Gachagua’s impeachment trial, where he faced 11 charges, all of which he denied.
Senators then proceeded to debate the impeachment motion before voting on it.
A majority of senators voted to remove Gachagua from office.
The required two-thirds of the 67 senators voted to uphold five charges against Gachagua, including inciting ethnic divisions and violating his oath of office.
The senate impeachment followed a similar vote at the National Assembly on October 8, 2024, where 282 MPs voted to impeach Gachagua.
