CS Kindiki Nominated as Deputy President to Succeed Impeached Gachagua

President William Ruto Friday nominated interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki as his deputy.

If approved by Parliament as anticipated, Kindiki will succeed Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua who was impeached on Thursday night.

Ruto had earlier on Friday held a security meeting of National Security Council where the issue of his new deputy will be.

It was at the meeting the name of Kindiki was floated. It was then submitted to Parliament for approval as required in law.

Speaker Moses Wetangula made the announcement in the House.

During the security meeting, several other security related issues were discussed.

Ruto sent a message to MPs urging them to approve Kindiki as the next DP.

Ruto has not discussed or commented on the impeachment of his deputy Gachagua.

Kindiki was Friday expected to be unveiled as the next DP even as the former second in command Gachagua moved to court to challenge the exercise.

It was anticipated that Kindiki would succeed Gachagua for among others political reasons.

He has been ranking highly in opinion polls as the preferred candidate to succeed Gachagua.

Plans are that he be sworn in by the weekend.

Kindiki’s successor at interior is yet to be named. The announcement by the Speaker during a special sitting on Friday triggered questions from MPs on the way forward.

Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru who was among those touted as the possible successors of Gachagua took to the social media to congratulate Kindiki even before he was officially named.

“My brother Professor@KindikiKithure, my sincere congratulations. To you history has placed an honor and responsibility accorded to only a few. May God guide you and HE @WilliamsRuto as you lead this great country to achieve its tremendous potential. To those that supported me for this position, I thank you. We must now dedicate our efforts to building a better Kenya under the leadership of HE William Samoei Ruto and HE Abraham Kithure Kindiki,” she said.

Kindiki comes to office when the political temperatures are higher.

Parts of Central region feel short-changed with the impeachment of Gachagua.

KIndiki was initially supposed to be Ruto’s running mate in 2022.

Once approved, the nominee will be formally appointed by the President as his deputy. Although the Constitution does not specify a timeframe for this appointment, it is expected to occur immediately after Parliament’s approval.

Born 52 years ago in Irunduni village, Tharaka Nithi County, Kindiki attended Irunduni Primary School, then Lenana School, before earning a law degree from the University of Nairobi. He later obtained a Master’s degree and a PhD from the University of Pretoria. Returning to academia, he taught law at Moi and Nairobi universities and occasionally served as a visiting lecturer abroad. Kindiki entered public service in 2008 when he was appointed Secretary for the National Cohesion and Reconciliation outfit by the late President Mwai Kibaki. He resigned after three months, citing a lack of political will to resettle victims of the 2007 post-election violence.

He gained national prominence when Ruto appointed him to his legal team during the International Criminal Court (ICC) trial for crimes against humanity. Leveraging this visibility, Kindiki transitioned to politics, successfully contesting the Senate seat for Tharaka Nithi in 2013 under the TNA party.

He was elected on his first attempt and served two terms, rising to the position of Deputy Speaker during his second term. However, as tensions grew between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President Ruto, Kindiki faced challenges in the Senate and was eventually impeached.

He has since served as Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration in President Ruto’s first and reconstructed Cabinet.

Senators voted to uphold five of the 11 charges against Gachagua who was then in hospital.

It was then that Speaker Amason Kingi gazetted the move and announced his removal from office.

“…..persuant to Articles 145 (7) and 150 (1) (b) and (2) of the Constitution and Standing Order 78 (8) of the Senate Standing Orders, on Thursday, 17th October. 2024, the Senate resolved to remove from office, by impeachment, His Excellency Rigathi

Gachagua, E.G.H.. Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya on the following grounds,” he said.

The grounds included gross violation of Articles 10 (2) (a). (b) and (c): 27 (4). 73 (1) (a) and (2) (b): 75 (L) (c), and 129 (2) of the Constitution and Article 147 (I, as read together with Article 131 (2) (c) and (d) of the Constitution and gross violation of Article 160 (1) of the Constitution on the Institutional and Decisional Independence of Judges.

The others were gross violation of Articles 3 (1) and 148 (5) (a) of the Constitution on the fidelity to the Oath of Office and Allegiance, serious reasons to believe that H.E. the Deputy President has committed crimes under sections 13 (1) (a) and 62 of the National Cohesion and Integration Act and gross misconduct that is incompatible with the high calling and dignified status of the Office of the Deputy President and a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council, H.E the Deputy President where he has publicly attacked and undermined the work of the National Intelligence Security and its officers.

He becomes the first deputy president to be impeached in Kenya’s history.

The motion of impeachment was tabled by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse in the National Assembly last week.

A total of 281 MPs voted in favour of the ouster motion against 44 who voted to save his young political career from sudden death.

Dozens of his friends thronged the Karen hospital where he was admitted. Doctors said he was in a stable condition after complaining of severe chest pains linked to stress.

According to Dr. Dan Gikonyo, Chief Cardiologist and founder of Karen Hospital, Gachagua was admitted on Thursday at 3:00 PM after experiencing “intense chest pains.”Gachagua had been scheduled to testify in the Senate for cross-examination during his impeachment trial.

“He is stable at the moment and we are still carrying out more tests to rule out any serious issues,” Gikonyo said.

Dr. Gikonyo stated that stress may be a likely cause of Gachagua’s sudden condition, adding that he will be monitored for three days before being discharged from the hospital.