- Rigathi Gachagua now says he doesn’t want to return as Deputy President.
- He has changed his court petition and now wants to be paid instead.
- Gachagua argues that his removal was illegal and he lost five years of salary.
- His lawyer told the court they only want compensation, not reinstatement.
- The court is yet to decide if he will be paid the damages he seeks.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has decided to change his petition in court. He no longer wants to fight to be given back his job. Instead, he now wants financial compensation for being removed from office before completing his five-year term.
Gachagua believes that the way he was pushed out was not lawful, and that he deserves to be paid what he could have earned if he stayed in power until the end of his term.
Legal Shift: No More Return, Just Compensation
Speaking through his lawyer Paul Muite, Gachagua asked the court to allow him to drop the earlier request of going back to office. His legal team now wants the petition to focus only on payment for the time he missed in office.
“We want to change the original prayers and replace them with a request for damages,” said Muite during the court session.
He also added that Gachagua has no interest in filing any other legal actions for now and only wants the court to set an early hearing date for the updated case.
Interestingly, those being sued did not oppose the request to change the petition. This now gives the court a chance to move forward with the compensation part only, without looking into the reinstatement issue.
This move by Gachagua seems to show that he has accepted he won’t be going back to his former position, but still wants the court to pay him for the loss he claims was caused unfairly.
The final decision will now depend on whether the court believes Gachagua’s new request should go ahead and if he deserves to be paid for the term he didn’t finish.
