Delusion of grandeur as Gachagua battles 'impeachment court ruling syndrome'

Delusion of grandeur, also referred as grandiose delusion, is a type of delusion where you believe you have exceptional abilities, wealth, fame, power, or a special identity that isn't grounded in reality.

Rigathi Gachagua's legal team made two moves that opponents termed contradictory:

-Oct 2024: Impeached by Senate 54-13 while he was hospitalized. Kindiki sworn in as DP

- May 2026: Gachagua dropped his demand for reinstatement to office and instead asked for full salary + allowances + retirement benefits for 2022-2027, as if he served the term.

Kindiki’s lawyers’ response were that:

1. “If there was no impeachment, then by operation of law he returns to office. There can be no future earnings for a term he legally continues to hold”

2. “You cannot say there was no impeachment and then proceed to compensate someone for removal from office.”

Critics argued this was like“having your cake and eating it” — wanting the impeachment quashed but also cash for being impeached. Hence “impeachment court ruling syndrome” — fighting a ruling while benefiting from it.

Opponents lashed at his delusion of grandeur:

1. Money claim size: Seeking full DP package for 5 years without serving = hundreds of millions KSh. Mutuse called the initial impeachment push about Gachagua’s “discrimination” talk

2. Political positioning: After impeachment, Gachagua told Mt Kenya MPs opposed to him to “listen to the people he claimed were under his control or face being thrown out in 2027”. MPs like Thang’wa say the ground still supports him, but opponents call it overstating his clout

3. Court warnings: Kindiki’s team told judges that quashing impeachment could trigger a “two-Deputy Presidents crisis”. Implication: Gachagua still sees himself as DP despite Kindiki holding office 20 months

3. Gachagua’s side of it

His lawyers argued that:

-No fair hearing: Senate rejected adjournment when he was in hospital Oct 17, 2024

- Rushed process: Parliament used a “YES/NO template” with only 200,000 public responses

- Rights violation: Impeachment was “a mockery of the Constitution”

- Dropped reinstatement: Muite says compensation is remedy for “lost future earnings” — not grandeur, but legal redress

4. The Mt Kenya political fallout

This is where “grandeur” gets political:

- Pro-Gachagua MPs: Karungo Thang’wa calls impeachment “a hot potato” for supporters. Teresiah Mwangi: “ground has refused to move away from Gachagua”

- Anti-Gachagua: Mutuse says he’s “proud we ended discrimination and showed that even small communities deserve a share of the national cake.”