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 2025
https://www.africa-confidential.com

Prepared for Free Article on 21/01/2025 at 07:40. 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...

Bondo welcomes Kibaki

A spirit of amity, barely two months old, appears to have stabilised the coalition government. It was ushered in by President Mwai Kibaki's trip to Nyanza, Prime Minister...

Who is in charge here?

The coalition government looks irreparably split but Speaker Kenneth Marende has offered a temporary fix

Kenya's coalition squabbles have spilled over into Parliament (AC Vol 50 No 9). The latest, and worst, row between the coalition partners, President Mwai Kibaki's Party of...

Holding their breath

As opinion polls say the race for the presidency is too close to call, a huge burden falls on the reformed electoral commission

On 4 March, Kenyans will vote for six different offices: president, senators, county governors, members of parliament, civic councillors and women’s county representatives. Under the new constitution, the...

The hawks are circling

President Mwai Kibaki has been fatally wounded by his government's corruption scandals

Did President Mwai Kibaki know about illicit political funding? Africa Confidential has listened to a covert recording of a conversation between anti-corruption czar John Githongo and the then...


Stories by country

Footer Map