Jump to navigation

Kenya

Plot to impeach William Ruto gathers steam

PREVIEW

If it wins enough votes, the plan could bar the Deputy President from the succession race

After Musalia Mudavadi's Amani National Congress revealed that it had instructed its legal team to draft articles of impeachment, the idea has been enthusiastically taken up by William Ruto's enemies in the governing Jubilee party.

Jubilee party vice chairman David Murathe said the party will rally its members to support the motion once it is tabled in the House. As one of Ruto's fiercest critics, Murathe's stance is unsurprising. But wider support for the plan is damaging the Deputy President (AC Vol 61 No 19, Keeping up with the Kenyattas). 

Accusations of land grabbing and corruption have accompanied Ruto throughout his political career, there is little pretence that impeachment is motivated by anything other than politics. It would leave Ruto without a party a year ahead of the presidential elections in which he sees himself as a leading contender.

'We shall support anybody who brings a motion to impeach the Deputy President on account of violation of chapter six on ethics and integrity,' Murathe warned at the weekend. For the moment, it is unclear whether Ruto's critics are close to having the numbers, but the impeachment threat is genuine.

Copyright © Africa Confidential 2024
https://www.africa-confidential.com

Prepared for Free Article on 22/12/2024 at 01:51. Authorized users may download, save, and print articles for their own use, but may not further disseminate these articles in their electronic form without express written permission from Africa Confidential / Asempa Limited. Contact subscriptions@africa-confidential.com.

Related Articles

Keeping up with the Kenyattas

As they take the field, the battle between the President and his deputy is testing the limits of ethnic politics

'You should go and insult your mother, not mine' said President Uhuru Kenyatta on 10 September to a small crowd just outside Nairobi. He was referring to two...

Mombasa murder

A 14-member team investigating the 27 August shooting in Mombasa of an Al Shabaab-linked Islamist, Sheikh Aboud Rogo Mohammed, will exclude police officials. Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako...

Politicians and activists take the election to court

The Supreme Court is to give its verdict on the close-run election and the electoral commission in a highly charged atmosphere

When presidential contender Raila Odinga's legal team, civil society organisations and sundry individuals met the deadline of 2 p.m. on 22 August to file their petitions disputing the...

Alarm over terror swoop

The government is screening ethnic Somalis and confining refugees to camps. Some question the effectiveness – and motives – of the policy

The security agencies' investigation of the Somali community for links to terrorism is meeting growing criticism. It forms part of the Jubilee Alliance government's response to the attack...

Three's a crowd

The marriage of convenience between Uhuru and Raila will start to unravel as money grows tight and a rival consort asserts himself

Kenya's political landscape in 2019 will be dominated by two-way competition between Deputy President William Ruto of the ruling Jubilee Party and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga of...

READ FOR FREE

Stories by country

Footer Map