- Mexico's new president tells investors their money is safe
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Man Utd captain Fernandes has red card rescinded
- US breast cancer rate rising sharply even as deaths fall: study
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Iran fires missiles at Israel in new escalation
- Euro 2025 ticket sales kick off in snowy Alps
- Ireland unveils bumper budget with Apple tax cash boost
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Emery keen to show Villa can compete in 'special' Bayern clash
- Parents can now limit Fortnite play time
- Kenyan lawmarkers seek to impeach deputy president
- Israel braces for Iranian attack after US warning
- Slot calls for Liverpool to show they missed Champions League stage
- Jimmy Carter: president, global mediator, Nobel laureate
- China drives record growth in renewable energy jobs: report
- Iran preparing imminent missile attack on Israel: US
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Haaland captains Norway with Odegaard still 'a long way' from playing
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Italians recover from nosedive to keep Louis Vuitton Cup final tied
- European airlines extend suspension of Middle East flights
- Second-ranked Zverev battles illness ahead of Shanghai Masters
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Former US president Jimmy Carter turns 100
- Fils saves match point to beat Humbert in all-French Japan Open final
- Defence 'geek' Ishiba becomes Japan PM in 'severe' security environment
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- Bayern's Kane returns to training before Aston Villa clash
- Award-winning Cambodian journalist arrested for 'incitement to cause chaos'
- Tunisia presidential candidate gets heavier jail term ahead of vote
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Israel says launches Lebanon ground offensive, escalating conflict
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- Russian strike kills six as Ukraine marks defenders day
- Mariners stunned at home by Buriram in AFC Champions League Elite
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Alcaraz downs Medvedev in straight sets to reach Beijing final
- Anger in Nepal over relief delays as flood toll hits 218
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Jaiswal leads India to remarkable victory in rain-hit Bangladesh Test
- China Open history-maker Zhang nearly quit after long losing run
- Rutte dismisses Trump fears as he takes reins at NATO
- 'I pleaded guilty to journalism,' Wikileaks' Assange
- Bangladesh crumble for 146, India need 95 to sweep series
- Multiple deaths in school bus fire in Thailand: PM
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Frustrated French clubs turn away players in post-Olympics sports boom
- Defiant history-maker Zhang Shuai powers into Beijing last eight
RBGPF | 4.79% | 63.86 | $ | |
NGG | 0.5% | 70.022 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.18% | 24.765 | $ | |
BP | 2.18% | 32.091 | $ | |
RELX | -0.18% | 47.375 | $ | |
SCS | -1.58% | 13.28 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.14% | 7.04 | $ | |
GSK | -1.2% | 40.395 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.32% | 24.86 | $ | |
BTI | -0.58% | 36.37 | $ | |
AZN | 0.96% | 78.665 | $ | |
VOD | -0.86% | 9.935 | $ | |
BCC | -0.05% | 140.915 | $ | |
BCE | 0.09% | 34.83 | $ | |
RIO | -0.16% | 71.055 | $ | |
JRI | -1.03% | 13.53 | $ |
Kenyan lawmarkers seek to impeach deputy president
Kenyan lawmakers on Tuesday initiated a motion to impeach the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in an unprecedented political move portending an acrimonious fallout within the ruling party.
The East African country's politics has in turmoil since March following deadly protests over a spiralling cost of living crisis and deeply unpopular tax hikes.
Gachagua is accused of undermining the government, being involved in corruption, insubordination, practising ethnically divisive politics among a slew of other charges.
Some 291 members of parliament appended their signatures to support the motion, well beyond the 117 minimum.
National Assembly speaker Moses Wetangula said the motion -- filed by Mutuse Eckomas Mwengi, a legislator from the ruling coalition -- met all the requisite constitutional threshold.
It lists 11 grounds for impeachment, including accusing Gachagua of amassing wealth estimated at 5.2 billion shillings ($40 million) within two years against an annual salary of $93,000.
"Gachagua has inexplicably amassed a humongous property portfolio... primarily from suspected proceeds of corruption and money laundering," Mwengi said, attaching Kenya's renowned Treetops hotel as evidence.
The hotel, where Britain's then Princess Elizabeth was staying when she became queen, reopened its doors in August after closing down during the Covid pandemic.
Gachagua, a businessman from the vote-rich Mt Kenya region, has denied the allegations as politically charged, warning his removal will stir discontent within his bastion.
The 59-year-old businessman weathered corruption scandals and links to the country's former authoritarian regime to win a closely fought election as President William Ruto's running mate in 2022.
But in recent weeks, he has complained of being sidelined by his boss amid accusations he supported anti-government by mostly Gen-Z Kenyans that began in mid-June.
The protests were sparked by proposed tax hikes in the 2024 finance bill, but snowballed into wider disillusionment at Ruto's top-down style of governance. More than 60 people were killed in those protests.
For the impeachment motion to pass, it would require the support of at least two-thirds of members of the National Assembly. A debate and vote are due for next Tuesday before it heads to the Senate.
If approved, Gachagua will become the first deputy president to be impeached in Kenya's history since the promulgation of the country's revised 2010 constitution.
In 1989, then vice-president Josephat Karanja resigned from office when faced with a similar vote in parliament.
T.Batista--PC