The Kenya’s senators have voted to remove Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua from office.
Gachagua’s removal from office follows his failure to testify at his impeachment trial after his lawyer said he had been taken to hospital.
The Deputy President had been due to appear in the Senate after lunch to defend himself, a day after he had pleaded not guilty to 11 charges.
However, Gachagua, popularly known as Riggy G, did not show up, and his lawyer requested a postponement, saying his client was suffering from chest pains and was being treated by doctors at The Karen Hospital.
Senators chose to continue the trial without him, prompting the defence team to leave the chamber.
The senators’ refusal to delay proceedings until Saturday – as long as would have been legally allowed – shows how determined they were to get rid of Gachagua, several months after he fell out with President William Ruto.
In a huge blow to his authority, Ruto had just been forced to withdraw the taxes. He sacked his cabinet and brought in members of the opposition to his government.
Ruto has not commented on the impeachment of his deputy.
At the start of the trial, one of Gachagua’s lawyers, Elisha Ongoya, said all of the allegations were “either false, ridiculous or embarrassing”.
Before the vote, Gachagua had said he would challenge the decision if it passed.
A doctor is quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying the 59-year-old had gone to the hospital with heart trouble but was stable and undergoing tests.
