Two years after he rushed to court to stop his ouster, Rigathi Gachagua has walked away from the case that was meant to save his job.

The former Deputy President on Wednesday, November 4, withdrew his High Court challenge to the October 2024 impeachment, with his lawyers saying the matter had been overtaken by time and that the issues it raised had already been decided.

A three-judge bench of Justices Eric Ogola, Freda Mugambi and Antony Murima allowed the oral application, People Daily reported, and marked petitions 522 of 2024 and 525 of 2024 as withdrawn with no orders as to costs. The judges said the other petitions before them would proceed as scheduled.

Why his lawyers pulled out

Petition E522 of 2024 was filed in October 2024 as a pre-emptive bid to block the National Assembly's impeachment process. Gachagua's team argued that the process was unconstitutional, rushed and lacked meaningful public participation, and raised claims of political bias and a breach of his right to a fair hearing.

High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi consolidated it with similar cases, and Chief Justice Martha Koome later empanelled a three-judge bench. The court, however, declined to issue emergency orders halting the impeachment, which went ahead in the Senate.

His lawyers said a later High Court judgment, delivered on June 8, had already dealt with the same questions of public participation, bias and procedural fairness, so pressing on would waste judicial time.

"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, according to the Eastleigh Voice and Kenyans.co.ke.

All eyes on November 19

Gachagua has already appealed the High Court decision that upheld his removal. The Court of Appeal is expected to give directions on November 19.

The case matters far beyond the courtroom. Gachagua leads the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) and is among opposition figures seeking to face President William Ruto in 2027. Political analysts have pointed to Article 75(3) of the Constitution, which bars a person removed from office for breaching Chapter Six from holding another state or public office, as a possible obstacle to any bid.

Gachagua, the first Deputy President removed from office under the 2010 Constitution, has consistently maintained that his impeachment was politically driven. His supporters see the appeal as the route to clearing his name before ballot papers are printed.

For now, the withdrawal narrows his legal fight to a single front, and the clock to August 2027 keeps ticking.

Photos: Kenyans.co.ke; The Eastleigh Voice. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.