Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has withdrawn a constitutional petition he filed to challenge the impeachment process that led to his removal from office in October 2024, shifting his legal battle to the Court of Appeal.
The withdrawal of Constitutional Petition No. E522 of 2024 was announced by his legal representatives on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.
The legal team argued that the case had lost its relevance following a subsequent High Court judgment that addressed the constitutional questions raised in the original petition.
Gachagua had filed the petition in October 2024 as Parliament moved to remove him from office.
In his challenge, he questioned the legality of the impeachment process, arguing that it had been conducted in an unconstitutional manner, without adequate public participation and with violations of his right to a fair hearing.
The petition was subsequently placed before High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi, who designated it as the lead case and consolidated it with five other petitions presenting related constitutional questions.
The scale and public interest surrounding the dispute led Chief Justice Martha Koome to appoint a three-judge bench to hear the consolidated matters.
During the proceedings, Gachagua’s legal team had sought orders to suspend the impeachment process pending the determination of the petition.
However, the court declined to stop Parliament from proceeding, and the Senate eventually voted to remove him from office in October 2024, making him the first Deputy President to be impeached under the 2010 Constitution.
Explaining the decision to abandon the earlier case, his lawyers maintained that the issues raised in the petition had already been addressed in the High Court’s June 8, 2026 judgment.
“Clients or petitioners have a right to withdraw their matters at the end of time, and this is exactly what the petitioner in E522 has done,” the lawyers said.
The legal representatives further argued that pursuing the withdrawn petition would serve little purpose since the court had already considered the questions forming the basis of the challenge. They said continuing with the matter would unnecessarily take up judicial time.
Gachagua’s legal team indicated that he would instead concentrate on challenging the High Court’s decision through an appeal, keeping his legal battle against the impeachment alive at the appellate level.
The Court of Appeal is expected to issue directions on the appeal on November 19, 2026.
