Court declines to suspend the hearing of Gachagua’s cases
By Zipporah Ngwatu, August 1, 2025The High Court has declined a prayer by the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to suspend the hearing of his cases, which are scheduled on October 23 and October 24, 2025, to a later date.
The application tendered by his legal team before a three-judge bench on Thursday, July 31, 2025, came after the court directed the parties to file respective submissions and set the dates for highlighting the submissions.
“After the parties have filed their respective submissions, the parties will appear before this court for two days to highlight their submissions. Day one will be on October 23, 2025, at 10 am, where the bench will take the highlighting by the petitioners alongside all the others who are in support of the petitions,” the bench directed.
“There after the bench will adjourn for the following day on October 24, 2025, at 10 am, where highlighting would proceed on the part of the respondents and those opposed to the petitions. On that same day, we will take rejoinder submissions by the petitioners,” the three-judge bench directed.
However, Gachagua’s legal team, led by Ndegwa Njiru, was not in support of the days set, arguing that the hearing could not start since there was a pending petition of appeal before the Supreme Court in respect to the decision that was rendered by Court of Appeal.
He revealed that one of the cross Appeal in E032/2025 Supreme Court is of petitioners who are pursuing the question of recusal.
“The question is still pending before the Supreme Court, we do not know the outcome of the supreme court and granted the fact that this honorable court has already set the date for hearing being October 23, 24, 2025, and granted that we are not aware as of the outcome on the decision on the decision that the Supreme Court will render and noting the Supreme Court decision will be binding on this court,” lawyer Njiru stated.
“I thereby make an application to review the directions on the hearing dates, my application your honour is based on the grounds that I have already indicated to the court that perhaps the Supreme Court may agree with the will of petitions, and if it does agree that decision will be binding on you, on this bench,” lawyer Njiru told the court.
He said that if the court were to proceed to set a date for the hearing of the petitions when there is still a challenge of the question of recusal that is being pursued before the Supreme Court, it will get into an academic exercise.
“So that this court may not get in an academic exercise it is our humble request that the directions given by this court be stayed,” Gachagua’s legal team submitted.
“I think my lady, my lords for good order and so that we can have certainty in what we are expecting or what we agree in litigation it will be prejudicial to we, the petitioners, appearing before the Supreme Court for the court to set up a date for the hearing.
He further proposed that the court set a mention date instead of having a hearing date, in which they can apprise the court on the status of the Supreme Court petition.
The bench directed that the matter be mentioned on October 7, 2025, at 2:30 pm for purposes of confirming compliance and be apprised of the status of the proceedings before the Supreme Court.
“For avoidance of doubt the hearings dates by way of highlighting of the submissions as earlier scheduled shall remain in force pending any development or directions of October 7, 2025.” the bench ruled.