Revealed: Ruto called hospital to enquire about Gachagua's health

A document filed in the impeachment cases challenging Parliament’s decision to kick out former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has added a new twist to the matter, with President William Ruto now mentioned directly.

Gachagua, who was once a political darling to Ruto, now turned foe, accuses the President of having a hand in his predicaments.

However, the document by Karen Hospital CEO and cardiologist Dr Daniel Gikonyo indicates that the President personally followed-up what transpired at the Senate after Gachagua was rushed to the hospital in the afternoon when he was required to take the witness stand.

Dr Gikonyo, in the document, said that on October 17, 2024, the President called him to inquire about Rigathi’s health.

He revealed that he informed the Head of State that his then deputy had been taken ill and admitted.

“I personally supervised and monitored the first petitioner (Gachagua) during his admission from October 17, 2024, to October 20, 2024. On October 17, 2024, while the first petitioner was under my care, I received a telephone call from the President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. William Ruto, who inquired as to the first petitioner’s condition, and I confirmed that the first petitioner had indeed been admitted to Karen Hospital, Nairobi and was receiving treatment,” said Dr Gikonyo.

The cardiologist in his document before the High Court Judges Eric Ogola, Freda Mugambi and Anthony Mrima stated that the 59-year-old father of two was rushed to the hospital complaining of severe chest pains.

Dr Gikonyo said that he attended to Gachagua at around 3 pm, and revealed he had been taking care of him since 2006.

“I conducted a comprehensive clinical assessment of the first petitioner, including a physical examination and diagnostic investigations, inter alia, blood tests and other relevant cardiological evaluation, for the purpose of determining the underlying cause of his conditions. Upon assessment, I recommended and arranged for the first petitioner to be admitted for inpatient care for a period of approximately 48 to 72 hours to enable close monitoring, further evaluation and appropriate medical management,” the doctor continued.

He was of the view that there was a risk of losing the then Kenya’s second-in-command if there was no immediate intervention.

On the other hand, the Senate and the National Assembly argued that Gachagua wasted an opportunity to defend himself.

The two, in their response, said that when the upper House of Parliament resumed at 2.30 pm, Gachagua’s lead counsel informed lawmakers that he was not certain of his client’s whereabouts.

The reply filed by G&A Advocates further reads that the lawyer, Paul Muite, was allegedly allowed to speak to him.

“Subsequently, the first petitioner’s counsel returned to the Senate Chamber and informed the House that the first petitioner had been taken ill. The House was thus adjourned until 5.00 pm to enable the first petitioner’s legal team to obtain further particulars and for the House to consider the way forward in the circumstances,”  the reply reads in part.

Senate and the National Assembly further claimed that at 5 pm, the senior lawyer came back and sought an adjournment, arguing that Gachagua had been taken ill.

Senators voted against the motion, and the Speaker, Amason Kingi, directed that the hearing continues.

The two Houses alleged that following the ruling by the Speaker, Gachagua’s lawyers allegedly walked out.

“At this point, the first petitioner had all of his responses filed before the National Assembly and the material filed before the Senate on record. He had also fully participated in the hearing of the National Assembly’s case and challenged the evidence through cross-examination. The only remaining step was for the first petitioner to take the stand and be similarly cross-examined for the National Assembly to test and challenge his evidence,” they replied.

Gachagua, they said, was impeached by the Senate on five grounds.

Senators and MPs claimed that Gachagua had metaphorically raised inflammatory statements that the government was a dairy cow, with those who tended it deserving to milk it first. According to them, this was a crude analogy of reducing citizenship to transactional shareholding.

At the same time they claimed that his reference to ‘children of the home and those of neighbours' allegedly created a dangerous hierarchy of citizenship.

Further, they told the court that he contradicted Ruto on several occassions, which allegedly amounted to insubordination.

MPs and Senators also claimed that Gachagua interfered with Nairobi County’s City Market planning and had disparaging remarks against governors.

The other issue was that he allegedly publicly attacked Justice Esther Maina for ordering the forfeiture of Sh200 million as proceeds of corruption.

According to them, an impeachment is a constitutional process but with a political character.

The two Houses asserted that there is no legitimate expectation that once a deputy president is elected, his fate is tied to that of the President.

They argued that a DP can be removed at any time.

The two Houses of Parliament said that, following public participation, without his response to the public, and hearing, there was an inevitable conclusion of impeachment.

“Impeachment is a parliamentary accountability mechanism, not a criminal trial. The Deputy President was entitled to a fair hearing before the National Assembly, but he was not entitled to dictate the format or timing of public submissions. As earlier submitted, members of the public are not required to adjudicate the merits of the impeachment grounds by acting as a jury or voting on the motion. That role, constitutionally, is exclusively reserved for the National Assembly,” they replied.

They urged the court to dismiss the cases, adding that even for pension and retirement benefits, Gachagua could only get them if he retired after completion of the term.

Gachagua wants the court to find that the impeachment was unconstitutional, hence null and void. He is seeking full benefits, alongside compensation.