Over the past few months, the Kenyan political space has been awash with reports of a fallout between President William Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua.
Although the two leaders initially dismissed the claims, recent developments, such as an impeachment motion that was tabled in Parliament and passed by a majority of legislators, confirm that all is not well between the two senior leaders in the country.
Following Parliament's move to pass Gachagua's impeachment motion, the latter's fate now lies with the Senate. If the Senate passes the motion, he could also join the list of Kenyan deputy presidents with the shortest serving tenure since he's been in office for slightly over two years.
Below is a list of Kenya's shortest-serving deputy presidents.
Musalia Mudavadi
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He served as Kenya's seventh and last deputy president under President Moi. He was appointed in November 2002 and served until January 2003 (60 days), when the NARC party took power.
Mudavadi replaced the late George Saitoti, who had served Mzee Moi as deputy president for about 12 years.
Since he was appointed at the tail end of the KANU administration, he was in office for only 60 days and had no fallout with his boss.
In President Ruto's administration, Mudavadi is currently the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs.
Joseph Murumbi
Murumbi was Kenya's second deputy president. He was appointed in May 1966 and resigned in November of the same year (120 days) due to illness.
He served under Kenya's first President, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. Murumbi was appointed following the resignation of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga on 14 April 1966.
Oginga resigned over claims of being sidelined by his boss, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
Michael 'Kijana Wamalwa'
The late Michael Kijana Wamalwa was Kenya's eighth and first vice president under President Kibaki's administration. He served from January 2003 to August 2003 (232 days), when he succumbed to illness.
Wamalwa was hospitalized at a Royal Free Hospital in London but died after reportedly suffering kidney failure.
Joseph Karanja
He served as Kenya's fifth deputy president for one year and thirty-eight days. He was appointed in 1988 to replace the late Mwai Kibaki and resigned in 1989 after a fallout with former President Daniel Moi.
Moi's fallout with Karanja was reportedly due to the latter's decision to hold a security meeting without the President's knowledge.
Several accusations were leveled against Karanja, such as claims of planning to destabilize the government. The allegations and the fallout with his boss prompted him to resign in 1989.
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
He was Kenya's first deputy president. He served for one year and 123 days, commencing in 1964 and ending in 1966, when he resigned.
Oginga resigned after falling out with his boss, the late former President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. In his resignation letter, Oginga accused Mzee Kenyatta of sidelining him in state matters.
"Dear Mr President, you have not given any consideration to me as your number two in state matters. I have a conscience and this in fact does prick me when I earn public money but with no job to do...With this realisation, I cannot continue to hold this position any longer and I hereby tender my resignation," Oginga's letter read in part.
