By A Correspondent

Kenyan President William Ruto appointed Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki as his new deputy on Friday, but the court has postponed Kindiki’s appointment until next week, when it will consider a case contesting Kindiki’s predecessor’s impeachment.

Legislators had already approved Kindiki’s appointment on Friday before the high court stepped in. It prolongs the East African nation’s political unrest, which began in June with large-scale demonstrations against unpopular tax increases.

It was the first time a Kenyan deputy president had been removed from office through impeachment when the Senate voted on Thursday to uphold the charges against Ruto’s former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua.

According to a ruling by the high court in the capital city of Nairobi, Kindiki’s appointment as deputy president and the Senate’s resolution sustaining Gachagua’s impeachment charges were put on hold until October 24, when a panel of judges chosen by the chief justice will discuss the matter.

Kindiki cannot take office until the case is heard, according to a second court order.

Five out of eleven charges, including flagrant constitutional violations and inciting ethnic hatred, led to Gachagua’s impeachment; he denied the charges and dismissed them as politically motivated.

Kindiki was named interior minister soon after the president took office in September 2022 and was a leading candidate to be Ruto’s running mate in that election.

The interior ministry includes oversight of the police. During the nationwide demonstrations earlier this year that demanded the repeal of a now-sheltered finance law and changes to combat corruption, rights organisations have accused the police of using excessive force.

Speaking to parliament in September, Kindiki claimed that the government did not carry out extrajudicial executions or kidnappings and that police followed the law.