Kenya senate adjourns impeachment hearing for deputy president after he falls sick

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The senate in Kenya briefly adjourned an impeachment hearing for the deputy president Thursday after he was hospitalized over an illness, according to his lawyers.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 11 charges of impeachment, and was expected to be cross-examined by parliament lawyers in the afternoon. The senate is scheduled to vote on the impeachment motion on Thursday evening.

Gachagua faces allegations that include corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and support for anti-government protests that saw demonstrators storm the country’s parliament. It is the first time a sitting deputy president is facing impeachment in Kenya.

His lawyer, Paul Muite, said doctors had told him that the deputy president was suffering from “intense chest pains” and needed “complete rest.”

The lawyers had cross-examined witnesses presented by parliament the previous day, including the legislator who moved the impeachment motion and the anticorruption agency's boss. Earlier Thursday Gachagua's legal team asked for the affidavit of a key witness, an elected governor for the capital Nairobi, to be expunged after the governor failed to turn up.

The case highlights the friction between Gachagua and President William Ruto — something that Ruto once vowed to avoid after his past troubled relationship as deputy to Kenya’s previous president, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Gachagua has said he believes the impeachment process has Ruto’s blessing, and has asked legislators to make their decision “without intimidation and coercion.”

The tensions risk introducing more uncertainty for investors and others in East Africa’s commercial hub.

The senate requires a two-thirds majority to approve the impeachment motion.

Under the Kenyan Constitution, the removal from office is automatic if approved by both chambers, though Gachagua can challenge the action in court — something he has said he would do.

Ruto, who came to office claiming to represent Kenya’s poorest citizens, has faced widespread criticism for his efforts to raise taxes in an effort to find ways to pay off foreign creditors. But the public opposition led him to shake up his cabinet and back off certain proposals.