Explained: What it takes to remove a president from office

Debate is currently rife in Kenya over the removal of the president from office, following insistent calls by Azimio La Umoja Coalition leader Raila Odinga.  

Azimio has now resulted in the collection of over ten (10) million signatures, a move it says will boost their efforts in withdrawing the country’s sovereignty from President William Ruto and his administration.

On Friday, July 7, Odinga launched the nationwide collection of fifteen million signatures both digitally and manually, an exercise the Azimio Coalition hopes will be complete by August 2023.

“I want us to get to ten million signatories and get this rogue government out of power,” said Odinga.

It is however not clear how the coalition will use the signatures as it holds no constitutional powers.

Although, Constitutional Lawyer Charles Kanjama says that the collection of signatures is a good political move despite it lacking a constitutional basis.

“There is no space for signatures in the constitution. This is just a political move.  However, if a Member of Parliament wants to show that the country is in support of the impeachment, the signatures will act as that. They are just a form of public participation and can be attached to the motion when presented,” said Kanjama.

According to him, a sitting president can only be impeached as stipulated in Article 145 of the Constitution.

“For impeachment, 117 of the members of the National Assembly who make up a third of the house will move the motion to Parliament. If approved by two-thirds of the members (that is 234), the motion moves to Senate where they shall hear charges against the president and investigate the matter,” said Kanjama.

“The president shall have the right to appear before the Senate and defend himself. If at least two-thirds of members of the Senate vote to uphold the impeachment charges, then the president ceases to hold office.”

What the Law says

Constitutionally, the process of impeaching a president goes through seven stages.

First as described by Kanjama, an MP, supported by at least a third of all the members, moves a motion for the impeachment of the President on grounds of gross misconduct or violation of the Constitution.

If the motion is supported by at least two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, the Speaker of the National Assembly shall inform the Speaker of the Senate of that resolution within two days.

The president shall however continue to perform the functions of the office pending the outcome of the proceedings.

Within seven days after receiving notice of a resolution from the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Senate Speaker shall convene a meeting of the Senate to hear charges against the president and may appoint a special committee comprising eleven of its members to investigate the matter.

The special committee shall report to the Senate within ten days whether it finds the particulars of the allegations against the president to have been substantiated.

The President shall have the right to appear and be represented before the special committee during its investigations.

If the special committee reports that the particulars of any allegation against the president have not been substantiated, further proceedings shall not be taken.

If they find the accusations are solid, the Senate shall then vote on the impeachment charges.

If at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate vote to uphold any impeachment charge, the president shall cease to hold office.

In the event an impeachment motion is presented in Parliament against Ruto, he will become the first President since independence to face impeachment charges.

His administration, barely a year old has so far recorded two impeachment motions, as two leaders have been impeached by the Members of the County Assembly.

The two, Siaya Deputy Governor and Meru County Governor were lucky to retain their positions as the Senate voted against their impeachment.