MPs Call for Rigathi Gachagua's Arrest over Remarks on 2027 Vote Outcome
- Former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua could face legal charges soon, should the authorities heed the call of a section of MPs
- Gachagua is accused of inciting the public to violence, especially after declaring that rigging of the 2027 presidential vote would result in a pandemonium as witnessed in 2007
- Suna East MP Junet Mohamed moved a motion seeking the arrest of Gachagua, arguing that if left untamed, the former deputy president would pose a threat to the security of the country
Members of the National Assembly have sought to censure and demand the arrest of former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua due to what they deem unbecoming conduct.
Source: Twitter
On Tuesday afternoon, May 27, Suna East MP Junet Mohamed moved an adjournment motion in which he brought to the attention of his colleagues what he termed Gachagua's dangerous and malicious conduct, which he argued was threatening the security of the nation as the 2027 electioneering period draws near.
The house had just resumed from its brief four-week recess; it shelved the business of the day to discuss Gachagua's conduct.
Why did Junet move motion against Gachagua?
Junet, who is also the leader of the minority side, based his motion on Gachagua's pronouncement in a YouTube interview he appeared in on May 16.
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The former deputy president is quoted as having said that should the 2027 presidential vote be rigged, the country would be unsettled, drawing an instance from the 2007/08 political crisis.
Junet said such sentiments were bordering on incitement and, if condoned, would spark violence.
"The constitution guarantees every Kenyan the right to assemble, demonstrate, and picket peacefully and unarmed. But that right ends where violence begins. No leader, including the former deputy president, has the right to manipulate public sentiments to incite unrest, destruction of property, or the loss of innocent lives," Junet said.
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The MP observed that Gachagua's sentiments had begun to witness pockets of unrest, especially in Nyeri, where Mathira MP Eric Wamumbi was recently cornered in the midst of the former deputy president's supporters.
Why Junet Mohamed wants Rigathi Gachagua charged
He called on the deployment of the National Cohesion Integration Act to charge the former deputy president, arguing that the law enacted in 2008 criminalises such utterances as his (Gachagua's).
Junet observed that Kenya had made progress from the crisis witnessed immediately after the 2007 vote, calling for action against Gachagua to maintain the strides made since the disputed election.
He faulted the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) for being unentreprising in its mandate to drive sanity and discipline among Kenyans partaking in explosive utterances.
"The NCIC summoned Gachagua, and he refused to appear before it, and he seems to be above the law, yet that is a commission funded by the taxpayers' money. He refuses whenever he is invited by the NCIC, the DCI and even the EACC. Who is going to protect Kenyans against him? The government looks like it is unable to jail him. If this government was formed by ODM, he would be in jail by now," Junet said.
His motion was seconded by other lawmakers, led by the leader of the majority, Kimani Ichung'wah.
What Kimani Ichung'wah said about Gachagua's conduct
In a heated session, the MPs submitted that Gachagua had vindicated them for their decision to impeach him last October.
Ichung'wah warned Gachagua against wedging rifts among Kenyans on tribal lines, stating that the country would remain united even beyond 2027.
The Kikuyu MP, appearing to use his minutes to settle scores with the former deputy president, ropped in the latter's supposed bad blood with his late brother's family, perhaps to demonstrate how unfit he is to hold public office.
Ichung'wah asked the NCIC to seek support from Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and effect action against Gachagua.
"We must, in one accord, as a house, not just condemn, and also ask the Inspector General of Police, I know he hails from Mathira also, but he must apply the law without fear or favour; the NCIC summoned a person who is not above the law, and the law must take its due course. And I want to encourage the NCIC Commission to get the help of the Inspector General of Police to enforce the law as it is. When you are summoned by NCIC at a constitutional level to answer to charges reported against you, you must appear. And if you don't appear, action must be taken. Otherwise, if we take that route, what will stop anybody tomorrow from inciting Kenyans, on the basis of ethnicity or whatever you like, to kill and slaughter each other with abandon? So, the law must take its course. And nobody is above the law; I want to repeat, nobody is above the law in this country," Ichung'wah said.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
