GET /api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1478883/?format=api
HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 1478883,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1478883/?format=api",
"text_counter": 34,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Special Motion dated Thursday, 26th September 2024 and received on Friday, 27th September 2024 from the Member for Kibwezi West Constituency, Hon. Eckomas Mwengi Mutuse. The Hon. Member seeks a resolution of the House for the removal from office, by impeachment, of H.E Rigathi Gachagua, EGH, as the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya. Article 150(1)(b) of the Constitution provides as follows, and I quote— “150. (1) The Deputy President may be removed from office— (b) on impeachment— (i) on the ground of a gross violation of a provision of this Constitution or any other law; (ii) where there are serious reasons to believe that the Deputy President has committed a crime under national or international law; or (iii) for gross misconduct.” The Notice of the Special Motion by the Member for Kibwezi West seeks a resolution of the House for the removal from office, by impeachment, of our Deputy President on the grounds specified under Article 150(1)(b) of the Constitution and sets out the particulars in respect of each ground. The Special Motion before the House presents an unprecedented constitutional moment in our democracy. Without doubt, it summons this House to test, for the first time under the 2010 Constitution, the provisions of our Constitution relating to the removal from office, by impeachment, of our Deputy President. It will be recalled that during the term of the 6th Parliament on 27th April 1989, the then Member for Embakasi, Hon. David Mwenje, successfully moved the House to pass a vote of no confidence in the then Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs, H.E Josphat Karanja. The Motion received an affirmative resolution from the House. It is instructive to note that upon the promulgation of the new Constitution of Kenya in August 2010, the then office of the Vice-President assumed a new clothing as the office of the Deputy President. This new clothing embedded in it a new manner of election, assumption of office and removal from office of the Second-in-Command. Whereas the previous Constitution conferred upon the President the power to appoint and remove the Vice-President, the Constitution of Kenya 2010 shifted the removal of the Deputy President to Parliament. This lays the ground for the notice of the Special Motion by the Member for Kibwezi West. Hon. Members, Standing Order 64(2), relating to removal, by impeachment, requires the Speaker to dispose of a Special Motion within three days of receipt of notice by a Member. Standing Order 64(2) as read in the light of Articles 259(5) and (6) of the Constitution, gives the Speaker the deadline of today, Tuesday, 1st October, 2024 to notify the House of receipt of the Special Motion and its admissibility or otherwise. Having notified the House of the Special Motion, I will now highlight the preliminary procedural and legal requirements relating to processing a Special Motion for removal from office, by impeachment, of the Deputy President."
}