NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Senate on Thursday voted to dismiss Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office by impeachment on the first of 11 charges levelled against him, in an unprecedented move that risks pushing the country towards a political crisis.

Kenyan senators have voted to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office despite his failure to testify at his impeachment trial after his lawyer said he had been taken to hospital. In one of the most dramatic days in Kenya's recent political history,

Kenya's Senate opened a second day of hearings on Thursday ahead of a vote on whether to remove Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua from office over charges he embezzled public funds, stirred ethnic hatred and undermined the government,