Gloria Orwoba Suspended From Senate Until February 2024

Omogeni's lamentations were however dismissed by his colleagues who accused Orwoba of making allegations that were outrageous, inflammatory and divisive in nature.

Majority Leader of the Senate Aaron Cheruiyot had requested the Speaker to allow the motion to be adjourned, despite not defending Orwoba, so that the leadership could attend to the matter.

"We are pleading with the Speaker to allow us to review this matter before we can address it on the floor of the House. The Clerk has been accused yet there was no substance in the matter," Cheruiyot appealed.

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. 

"The Senator, on diverse dates, made unsubstantiated allegations of discrimination in Parliament by posting various messages at the Senate Business WhatsApp groups and made allegations during a media briefing held in the media centre main Parliament building," Mohamed told her colleagues. 

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.

"Feeling frustrated, backed to the corner and completely let down by the systems in place, I presented a personal statement in Parliament to give account to what is happening to me and definitely many other parliamentarians who are suffering in silence.

"A few days after my presentation, the same powerful office engineered a retaliation attack by having the Powers and Privilege Committee summon me with charges that clearly have no basis and an outright attempt to silence me from speaking about the sexual harassment by using standing order 100," Orwoba claimed.

Passport Saga & Powerful Man In Parliament

She earlier on Thursday claimed that the powerful man had hidden her passport, preventing her from travelling to Geneva, Switzerland to speak at a United Nations (UN) event. According to her, the passport was not submitted to the embassy as required.

“On May 14th I was invited to participate in the United Nations 53rd Human Rights Council Session in Geneva,” she stated.

“As per protocol I submitted my passport and asked for facilitation. I was told it was impossible due to various reasons.”

She however noted that she had communicated to Geneva about the situation and the UN decided to foot the bill for her travels. The day before her travel, she was shocked to find out that the embassy was yet to process her visa and as such she missed an opportunity to present her legislative work and advocacy for women's empowerment.

She then learnt that her passport was hidden and not presented to the embassy so that travel documents could be processed and handed to her.

When she planned to present a personal statement on the matter, she alleged that a powerful office had orchestrated a retaliation attack by having the Powers and Privilege Committee summon her with trumped-up charges.

“The House will be discussing whether to punish me moderately or to hang me violently for having reported harassment incident and retaliation by a senior staff member,” she spoke of the charges. 

Orwoba is yet to disclose the name of the politician in question. She has made a name for herself in Kenya and around the world owing to her efforts to end period poverty.