Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Charles Kanjama has criticized the court ruling that upheld former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s impeachment, arguing that the judgment contains significant inconsistencies and raises concerns over the protection of fair trial rights.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV, Kanjama questioned the court’s position in acknowledging that Gachagua’s right to a fair hearing was violated, yet still allowing the impeachment outcome to remain in force.
According to him, established legal practice requires courts to invalidate proceedings where a constitutional right to a fair trial has been breached.
“Normally, when a right to fair trial or fair hearing is infringed, you invalidate the hearing, you set it aside, or you order a new trial,” Kanjama said.
He expressed surprise at what he termed an unusual judicial approach in the case.
“This is the first time in my experience as a lawyer that the court has made a clear finding that the right to a fair trial was substantively violated but has failed to reverse the underlying outcome of that fair trial,” he stated.
Kanjama further pointed to what he described as contradictions in the court’s interpretation of impeachment law and available remedies.
He noted that earlier judicial pronouncements had suggested that courts could overturn impeachment outcomes, while the latest ruling appeared to take a different position.
“The court said our hands are tied because impeachment is final; we cannot undo it. The court at that time said we can overturn the outcome of the impeachment, but today it has said once the impeachment is done, it cannot be overturned,” he explained.
He argued that such inconsistencies risk creating uncertainty in constitutional interpretation and could erode public confidence in the judiciary.
“There is a lot of inconsistency in the decision of the court,” Kanjama added.
