Senate to Appeal Court’s KSh50 Million Award to Gachagua Over Fair Hearing Violation, Says Cheruiyot
The Senate will challenge the High Court’s decision to award former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua KSh50 million in damages over the violation of his right to a fair hearing during impeachment proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot has announced.
Speaking on Tuesday, June 9, Cheruiyot said the Senate strongly disagrees with the court’s finding that Gachagua was denied a fair trial, maintaining that the former Deputy President was given adequate opportunity to defend himself before lawmakers.
According to the Kericho Senator, Gachagua was allowed to present both oral submissions and written arguments but instead chose to employ tactics aimed at delaying the proceedings.
“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 stated.
His remarks came just hours after a three-judge bench upheld the Senate’s historic decision to impeach Gachagua, dismissing multiple consolidated petitions that sought to overturn his removal from office.
In a landmark judgment delivered on Monday, June 8, Justices Eric Ogolla, Anthony Mrima and Fridah Mugambi ruled that Parliament acted within the Constitution and the law while handling the impeachment process.
The judges rejected claims that Parliament lacked the authority to conduct the impeachment due to alleged non-compliance with the constitutional two-thirds gender principle.
The court held that although concerns surrounding the gender principle remain unresolved, they do not invalidate Parliament’s constitutional mandate to deliberate and determine impeachment proceedings.
The bench also upheld the Parliamentary Standing Orders used during the process, finding that both the National Assembly and the Senate followed lawful procedures while considering the motion against Gachagua.
On the issue of public participation, the judges concluded that the National Assembly had met the constitutional threshold, dismissing arguments that the exercise was inadequate.
However, the court found fault with one critical aspect of the Senate proceedings.
According to the judgment, Gachagua’s constitutional right to a fair hearing was infringed when senators declined a request for adjournment despite his absence from the impeachment trial.
The judges ruled that the decision effectively denied him sufficient opportunity to fully present his defence, amounting to a violation of his fair trial rights under the Constitution.
As a result, the court awarded Gachagua KSh50 million in damages payable by the Senate.
Despite finding that his rights had been violated, the judges maintained that the infringement was not substantial enough to invalidate the impeachment outcome itself.
The ruling therefore leaves Gachagua’s removal from office intact while opening a fresh legal battle over compensation, with the Senate now preparing to challenge the damages award at the appellate court.
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