Kenyan Deputy President Gachagua Bows Down,Tenders In Resignation To Ruto

The deputy president of the Republic of Kenya His His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua has bowed down to the impeachment of the parliament and decided to resign from the position of Deputy President.

  He was elected as the running mate to President William Ruto on August 9, 2022, and sworn in on September 13, 2022.

He and President Ruto ran on a United Democratic Party (UDA) ticket, a political party in the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

Before ascending to his current position, Mr Gachagua served as Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency, Nyeri County, between 2017 and 2022. 

Gachagua's resignation comes in the time when Kenya's parliament has begun the final step to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office.

 An overwhelming majority voted in the National Assembly last week to approve his impeachment, setting the stage for the two-day trial in the Senate that decides whether or not to oust him.

 The deputy president faces 11 charges including corruption, inciting ethnic divisions and undermining government - all of which he denies.

 The row follows his recent fallout with President William Ruto, who has remained silent about the matter.

The Deputy President Gachagua has served in government for most of his working life, starting as an administration officer shortly after completing his studies at the University of Nairobi.

He was then promoted to the position of District Officer III in the then Kirinyaga District. In 1991, Mr Gachagua was moved to the Office of the President where he served as a personal assistant to the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Public Service.

Between 1993 and 1997, he was promoted to District Officer 1 and deployed to the then Kakamega and Laikipia districts. In 1999, Mr Gachagua took a break from the Public Service and went into private business. As a businessman, he encouraged the youth and marginalised groups to take up entrepreneurship to empower themselves as well as create jobs qne wealth.

 In 2001, he returned to the Public Service as personal assistant to Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, who was the Minister for Local Government and later Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament. Mr Gachagua served in the position up to 2006. In 2017, Mr Gachagua was elected Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency. He held this position until he became Deputy President.