Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said that the majority of politicians who are currently facing court cases were targeted by the previous administration for their political stance.
In an interview on Citizen TV on Sunday, the deputy president, who has a pending court case, stated that he, as well as the cabinet ministers, will be available if summoned to court.
“I have an active matter in court. Anytime I’m called to court, I wil present myself, I will will be there, ” he said.
“I’m giving you this guaranatee, that anytime I’m called in court, I will appear .. I’m an innocent man, let me be there, let me be processed, let the witnesses come I ask questions, not just ministers, even the deputy president is ready to appear in court if I’m summoned,” he added.
However, Gachagua added that if any cabinet appointees are found guilty in court, they will be fired.
The second-in-command appeared to be referring to the recent cabinet nominations, in which some of the 22 nominees are facing various legal issues.
“In the unfortunate event that they are convicted, these CS will lose their jobs .. but we cannot say, that Mithika Linturi .. a great man, a great mind be denied the chance to serve as the CS of Agriculture because the government at that time wanted to punish him for taking a stand,” DP Gachagua said.
While some of the appointees have pending cases in court, none have been convicted, according to Gachagua.
According to Kenyan law, all public office holders can be barred from holding public office only if they are convicted and have exhausted all appeals.
He argued that denying anyone the opportunity to serve Kenyans on the basis of fabricated charges would be unjust and against the Kenyan constitution.
“The presumption of innocence till proven guilty is a constitutional right… you cannot have some rights for certain people and you do not have for others because they are politicians,” he added.
