Kenya's Senate is set to vote Thursday on whether to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office in an unprecedented political saga that has gripped the nation.
The Senate will give its verdict at the end of the second day of an impeachment trial against the embattled number two to President William Ruto.
It follows a historic vote last week in the lower house, the National Assembly, to impeach Gachagua on 11 charges including corruption, insubordination, undermining the government and practising ethnically divisive politics.
A trial in the Senate began Wednesday after the 59-year-old, also known as "Riggy G", failed in multiple court bids to halt the process.
Gachagua's testimony
The outspoken politican arrived at parliament on Thursday, shortly before the session opened, and is expected to testify in his defence later.
Gachagua has denied all the charges - and no criminal proceedings have been launched against him-- but he will automatically be removed from office if the Senate approves his impeachment.
If this happens, he would be the first deputy president to be ousted in this manner since impeachment was introduced in Kenya's revised 2010 constitution.
Gachagua, who has protested that he is being treated like a "spent cartridge", can however fight the impeachment in the courts once the parliamentary process is completed.
Possible successors
Among the names of possible successors floated by the Kenyan media are Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, Foreign Minister and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and a county governor, Anne Waiguru.
Gachagua's chances of survival are slim if opposition members in the 67-seat Senate back the ruling party as wi tnessed in the National Assembly vote on October 9.
At a media briefing ahead of last week's vote, Gachagua vehemently rejected what he called "nonsensical allegations" and said the efforts to oust him disregarded the will of the Kenyan people in 2022.
"This is what we call political deceit, conmanship and betrayal."
Ruto has not given any public comment on the impeach ment, but Gachagua has said the process could not have gone ahead without his boss's blessing.
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