Former nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba has suffered a legal setback after the High Court declined to hear her petition challenging her ouster from the ruling party, the United Democratic Alliance Party.
In May, the former-nominated senator took the ruling party to court, advocating to retain her seat in the senate and her membership in the party after the party initiated disciplinary proceedings against her for allegedly shifting allegiance to another political movement.
UDA, on the other hand, opposed the petition, challenging the High Court’s jurisdiction and seeking to have the matter struck out.
In its ruling on Wednesday, August 13, the High Court instead directed her to take the matter to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT).
While delivering the ruling, Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case while a similar dispute was already pending before the PPDT.
According to Justice Mugambi, it was a violation of court process for Orwoba to have two parallel proceedings on the same issues.
“The petitioner should approach the High Court once she has exhausted the case before the Tribunal. I decline to exercise jurisdiction,” Justice Mugambi stated.
In her petition, Orwoba argued that the party’s process was improper because there were no laid-down disciplinary rules to guide it, contending that her rights to a fair trial and fair administrative action had been violated.
However, the judge dismissed Orwoba’s claims that the disciplinary committee at the centre of the dispute had acted in contempt of court.
Justice Mugambi also found that Orwoba had failed to provide evidence to substantiate the allegations.
The court held that because the petition was improperly before it, there was no need to address the other issues and accordingly struck out the case, awarding costs to UDA.
The decision means Orwoba must first fully prosecute her case before the PPDT before seeking any further relief from the High Court.
