Ruto allies confirm 300 signatures collected, date set for DP Gachagua impeachment

Next week on Tuesday will be a defining moment for Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua with the National Assembly members expected to table the impeachment motion against him.

Reports indicate that as of Friday evening, the collection of signatures was on course to cross the threshold.

A minimum of 117 legislators must support the motion for it to introduced in parliament, and the support of 233 MPs is required for it to make it to the Senate.

Leaders in the National Assembly remained upbeat that the motion will be tabled, remarking that more than 300 signatures had so far been collected.

Citizen TV quoted National Assembly Deputy Majority Leader Owen Baya confirming that “signatures are being collected and have reached 260 by Thursday evening and are now nearing 300".

"Members are signing according to regions and counties… In the coastal region only one member has not signed; one member recently flew from Mombasa just to sign and went back," Baya added.

Night meetings that sealed Gachagua's fate in impeachment plan

According to Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro, MPs have been more than willing to support the impeachment motion.

READ: Gachagua allies get protection from arrest after DPP approved charges against them

"There is a stampede; members are moving to sign the motion…It is a matter of when, not if, the motion will be tabled," Osoro stated, confirming that the motion is expected to be tabled early next week.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during the interview Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during the interview Pulse Live Kenya

Proponents of the impeachment motion rolled out an elaborate strategy to collect the signatures, further deepening Gachagua’s woes.

Regional caucuses have been integral in the collection of signatures, with a series of night meetings chaired by whips to adopt a common position on DP Gachagua’s impeachment plot.

READ: Ruto allies claim watertight impeachment case against Gachagua is already done

Sources privy to the details divulged that MPs from Rift Valley were first to meet on Tuesday, spelling woes for DP Gachagua after they resolved to protect the presidency by supporting the impeachment plot.

Lawmakers from Mt. Kenya, Western, and Coast trooped to a hotel in Lavington, Nairobi where they also took a common position on the matter.

Why MPs want Gachagua impeached

Reports indicate that Majority Leader Kimani Ichungwah and Minority Leader Junet Mohammed are at the center of it all and are regularly briefed.

Proponents of Gachagua’s impeachment maintain that they are building a water-tight case that they are confident will see the DP sent packing.

READ: Gachagua speaks after impeachment plans hit high gear

"We are building a very watertight case since the DP is a person of a high stature," Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa asserted.

File image of President William Ruto with his deputy Rigathi Gachagua File image of President William Ruto with his deputy Rigathi Gachagua Pulse Live Kenya

Gachagua's shareholding narrative, undermining the President, and tribalism are among the grounds that the MPs will be seeking to impeach the DP.