Gloria Orwoba Stripped Of Privileges Following Suspension From Senate

Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba suffered a major blow after the Senate failed to prevent her from being slapped with a six-month suspension from the Senate and Parliament precincts.

The House had on Wednesday, September 20 adopted the Powers and Privileges Committee report tabled on August 10 which recommended her suspension for failing to appear before it to substantiate claims she made against her colleagues on corruption and sexual harassment. 

The motion to debate the report was moved and the House adopted it via a majority vote, upholding the decision to suspend her. 

"Having accorded Senator Gloria Orwoba an opportunity to be heard, the senator declined to participate in the inquiry by the committee on Powers and Privileges and hence the committee found the charges to stand,’’ the report states. 

"The committee considered the evidence before it on this charge and given that there was no evidence to the contrary to refute the charge, the charge was therefore confirmed."

A bird's-eye view of the inside of the Senate chambers. /PHOTO

What Has Orwoba Lost After Suspension?

Following the suspension, Orwoba has been restricted from accessing precincts of parliament, and the use or enjoyment of any specific facility provided to members for the period that she will be suspended. She will also not attend senate plenary and committee sessions, thus forgoing all the allowances.

Apart from that Orwoba is also barred from local and foreign travel, which MPs bank on for extra coins outside their normal pay.

On resumption of Senate sitting in February 2024, Orwoba will be required to apologize to the Senate, Senators, the Clerk of the Senate and the secretariat of Parliament.

Speaking in a video message after the reaction, Orwoba refuted claims that she was invited to appear before the committee to defend herself, dismissing claims by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna that she had an opportunity to substantiate her claims, twice, but ignored the summons.

"There are some allegations and some conversations that are actually not correct. I'm told that Senator Sifuna is talking about me being given an opportunity to defend myself and yet I refused to defend myself. First of all that is not the case," Orwoba stated.

During the debate on the motion to adopt the report, Sifuna deemed Orwoba guilty as charged since she threw away the opportunity to set the record straight and absolve herself from blame.

"Senator Gloria having made those allegations, she had a responsibility to substantiate those allegations before the committee, she elected not to appear before that committee or to tender any evidence," Sifuna revealed.

"Those allegations remain unsubstantiated and therefore the punishment that has been proposed by the committee is something that I'm willing to support and I hereby support."

The report presented to the Senate plenary for adoption or rejection had sparked a heated debate within the Chambers as female MPs countered their male counterparts who demanded the adoption of a report that found Senator Orwoba guilty of maligning the name of the Clerk.

ODM Nominated Senator Hezena Lemaletian responded swiftly to Sifuna by claiming that female leaders have been going through a lot in the hands of people with narrowed interests, citing Orwoba's case as one out of the several captured in an ongoing challenge for a number of female MPs, especially those in their youth.

"More often than not, when assertive women come up to talk about their experiences, their heads are pressed down so that they are not heard. This house should, instead, be discussing how to prevent harassment of female Members of Parliament, not only in this House but also everywhere in the country," Lemaletian stated.

Lemaletian was backed by a section of female MPs who argued that the Senate should take a tougher stance on harassment, calling for increased penalties for perpetrators and more support for victims.

Others argued that the focus should be on prevention, through education and awareness-raising campaigns. Still, others argued that the government should not interfere in private matters and that individuals should be responsible for their own actions.

The Committee on Powers and Privileges carried out an inquiry into the conduct of Senator Orwoba's allegations and determined that she breached parliamentary privileges under Section 16 (e) and Paragraph 7(a) of the 4th Schedule in the Parliamentary Power and Privileges Act 2017.

How Did It Begin?

Orwoba, for starters, made accusations of sexual favours in Parliament by posting various messages on the Senate Business WhatsApp groups on diverse dates and accused of making allegations of favouritism and discrimination, which she could not substantiate. 

She was also found to have made accusations of kickbacks and corruption and also posted disrespectful messages to senators on the Senate business WhatsApp group. 

Orwoba in May 2023 claimed that she was subjected to favouritism and sexual harassment from a powerful and influential office held by a man in the Senate, further claiming that she was blowing a whistle on alleged ongoing Gender Base Violence in Parliament.

In her video message, Orwoba affirmed that she still stands by her claims and questioned while the motion to debate her conduct was moved on a day the House knew she was absent.

She added that she still remained on record that the Clerk of the Senate solicited sexual favours from her and once she refused to participate in that kind of arrangement, the retaliation began.

"This is a matter that is actually in court that's why I have not been commenting on it but Parliament has chosen to continue discussing and debating it therefore I have to add my voice. I still remain firm, that there are sexual favours and there are senators who are being paid because they are trading sexual favours for legislative agenda, for trips, for so many things," she asserted.