Azimio la Umoja Coalition led by Raila Odinga on Tuesday launched a digital platform dubbed ‘Tumechoka Citizens’ Initiative’, aiming to collect over 15 million signatures from Kenyans in a bid to remove President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua from office.

According to the coalition, this is part of the  resistance campaign, civil disobedience and citizens’ action that Azimio has decided to pursue to force President Ruto and his regime to respect and listen to the people.

“The Finance Act 2023 clearly exposed the fact that our leaders have decided to take instructions from the executive and the executive has decided to pursue its own wishes, regardless of what the people feel or say. Both the legislature and the executive have ganged up against the people, and the people have been left on their own. In return, the people have decided, rightly, to gang up against the executive and the legislature. The people have decided to invoke Article 1 of the Constitution,” Azimio la Umoja Coalition said in a statement.

The Azimio leadership further said the process they are engaging in is about the deliberate policy decisions by the Kenya Kwanza regime to make life unbearable to a great majority of Kenyans despite the consistent appeal to the regime by Kenyans to take action to lessen their burden.

Mr Odinga insisted that Kenyans should constitutionally take back their sovereign power from the Kenya Kwanza administration. He quoted Article 1 clauses (1) and (2) of the Constitution, which state that; “All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya and shall be exercised only in accordance with this Constitution. The people may exercise their sovereign power either directly or through their democratically elected representatives.”  

However, the Constitution stipulates that a President can only be removed by way of  Parliament.

What the law says about the removal of the President from office

There are two grounds which can be used to oust a sitting President from office – Removal of the President on grounds of incapacity, and Removal of the President by impeachment.

Removal of the President on grounds of incapacity

Article 144 of the Constitution stipulates that a member of the National Assembly, supported by at least a quarter of all the members, may move a motion for the investigation of the President’s physical or mental capacity to perform the functions of the office.

If the motion is supported by a majority of the members of the National Assembly, the Speaker informs the Chief Justice of that resolution within two days, and the President continues to perform the functions of the office pending the outcome of the proceedings required by the Constitution.

And within seven days after receiving notice of the resolution from the Speaker, the Chief Justice appoints a tribunal consisting of three persons who are qualified to practice medicine under the Laws of Kenya, nominated by the body which by law is responsible for regulating the professional practice of medicine.

The Chief Justice also nominates one advocate of the High Court nominated by the body which by law is responsible for regulating the professional practice of advocates, and one person nominated by the President. If the Chief Justice is unable to appoint a tribunal, the Deputy Chief Justice appoints such a tribunal.

If the President is unable to nominate the person to represent him, the person is nominated by a member of the family of the President or if no such member is willing or able to make the nomination, a close relative of the President makes the nomination.

The tribunal investigates the matter and within 14 days after the appointment reports back to the Chief Justice and to the Speaker of the National Assembly. The tribunal’s report is supposed to be tabled before the National Assembly within seven days after the Speaker has received it.

The report of the tribunal is final and is not subjected to appeal and if the tribunal reports that the President is capable of performing the functions of the office, the Speaker of the National Assembly announces in the National Assembly.

If the tribunal reports that the President is incapable of performing the functions of the office, the National Assembly should vote on whether to ratify the report. If a majority of all the members of the National Assembly vote in favour of ratifying the report, the President should cease to hold office. 

Removal of President by impeachment

A member of the National Assembly, supported by at least a third of all the members, may move a motion for the impeachment of the President, on grounds of a gross violation of a provision of the Constitution or of any other law.

According to the Supreme law, the President can be impeached where there are serious reasons for believing that the President has committed a crime under national or international law, or for gross misconduct.

If such a motion is supported by at least two-thirds of all the members of the National Assembly, the Speaker informs the Speaker of the Senate of that resolution within two days. However, the President continues to perform the function of the office pending the outcome of the proceedings required by the Constitution.

Within seven days after receiving notice of a resolution from the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Speaker of the Senate is expected to convene a meeting of the Senate to hear charges against the President, and the Senate, by resolution, may appoint a special committee comprising 11 of its members to investigate the matter.

The special committee investigates the matter and is supposed to report to the Senate within 10 days whether it finds the particulars of the allegations against the President to have been substantiated. The President has 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 cannot be taken under this Article in respect of that allegation. If they are substantiated, the Senate, after according to the President an opportunity to be heard, 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 ceases to hold office.

Is this exercise by Azimio just a political gimmick?

The exercise has raised questions over its legality and effectiveness. This is because according to the Constitution, the process can only be executed from within Parliament.

When questioned, Azimio’s side responded by just saying. “We don’t expect them (Kenya Kwanza) to understand. They don’t understand the people’s power as of now, but with time, they will. But they need to understand we will not take it to the IEBC or their compromised Parliament.”