Kenyan Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua, has been removed from office marking the first impeachment of a deputy president under the country’s 2010 constitution. Senate Speaker Amason Kingi announced that “senators have this night voted to impeach the deputy president of the Republic of Kenya.

Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was ousted from office on Thursday after being impeached in an unprecedented political saga that has gripped the nation. In a historic move, the Senate voted to impeach Gachagua on five of 11 charges, after a similar motion was overwhelmingly approved by the lower house National Assembly last week.

Kenya's Senate will proceed with impeachment hearings and a vote on whether to dismiss Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Thursday, the senate speaker said, despite Gachagua's absence from the proceedings after his lawyer said he had fallen ill.