Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge and his Mathira counterpart Eric Wamumbi were forced to flee after irate residents held protests against the public participation exercise over impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

The two(2) lawmakers had convened a group of residents several metres away from Nyeri Cultural Centre where the exercise was being conducted.

The angry residents teared apart the signature forms before pelting stones at the MPs.

The MPs fleed to unknown destination.

The residents demonstrated at the bustling Nyeri town for the better part of the morning before embarking to the public participation venue.

At the venue's hall, residents flocked in large numbers where they expressed their support for DP Gachagua. None of the MPs from Nyeri attended the event.

Nyeri is the backyard of DP Gachagua, who is facing an impeachment motion at Parliament.

The event turned out to be a political rally as speakers, led by Nominated MCA Kelvin Kariithi, lashed out at Mr Mathenge and Mr Wamumbi, accusing them of allegedly trying to bribe residents.

"Public participation was supposed to happen at this venue alone. But some leaders tried to woo some residents with money so as to vote in favour of Gachagua's impeachment. But our people are very clever and will never allow to be misused by politicians," Kariithi said.

"As residents of Nyeri, we have hereby said that we are against the public participation because we are all in agreement that we support our Deputy President," he added.

On Thursday, a section of MPs from Nyeri County who had appended their signatures in support of Gachagua's impeachment motion made a sudden U-turn and vowed to defend him.

When the motion was tabled on the floor of the National Assembly last Tuesday by Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse, it was only Mukurwe-ini MP John Kaguchia from the County who had declined to endorse it.

The rest – Geoffrey Wandeto (Tetu), Njoroge Wainaina (Kieni), Eric Wamumbi (Mathira), Duncan Mathenge (Nyeri Town), Wambugu Wainaina (Othaya) and woman representative Rahab Mukami – had appended their signatures to the ouster motion.

But a day before the public participation over the motion, Wandeto, Wainaina and Mukami backtracked on their earlier decision.

The trio said they arrived at the decision to defend Gachagua against the ongoing impeachment proceedings after keenly consulting their electorates.

Ms Mukami called on President William Ruto and his deputy Gachagua to iron out their differences so as to avert further proceedings of the motion.

“After a lot of soul-searching and going through the details of the motion, I have realized that this is something that our deputy president can iron out with the President. I have listened to the ground and the people of Nyeri have said it clearly that they don’t want the Deputy President to be removed from office. Kenya is bigger than an individual and it belongs to all of us,” the woman representative said.

Mr Wandeto said the people of Tetu are against the motion that, if passed by the National Assembly and Senate, could see Gachagua loosing his seat as the country’s second-in-command.

“When I consulted my people about the motion, they said it was not a priority at this time but focus should be directed towards other important priorities. As a representative of the people, it is imperative for us to listen to them and do what they have asked us. On Tuesday, I will be voting ‘NO’,” said Mr Wandeto.

On his part, MP Wainaina said: “I want to make a personal commitment that I will go with the decision of the people of Kieni. An MP has never had the final say on matters pertaining to the country”.

In Mukurwe-ini, Kaguchia led his residents in conducting public hearings over the impeachment motion.

The public hearings were held at Rugi ward, Gikondi ward, Mukurwe-ini West ward and Mukurwe-ini Central ward.

“Even if we have political differences, there is a need to come together and speak in one voice. That is why I decided not to sign that motion. On Tuesday, I will still vote against the motion,” the lawmaker said.

Ms Faith Wanjiru, a resident of Othaya, said it was unfair for the impeachment motion to be leveled against the DP, arguing that he was elevated to the office jointly with President Ruto during the August 9, 2022, General Election.

“We elected President Ruto and his Deputy Gachagua as a pair at the ballot. If there was any impeachment, it should be directed towards the two of them as a pair but not towards a single leader,” Ms Wanjiru said.

“Why are the MPs demanding for additional security? If at all they think they did their best by appending their signature in support of Gachagua’s ouster, then they should not fear coming to us on the ground. We are against that motion in totality,” she lamented.

Mr Kaguchia was among 58 MPs who did not sign the motion.