Senators on Thursday, August 10, engaged in heated arguments after a house committee resolved to censure Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba for the manner in which she conducted herself over the past few months.
The whole episode started after Senator Shakila Mohamed presented a report to the house on behalf of the Powers and Privileges Committee which recommended that Orwoba be suspended for the remainder of the session that ends in December 2023.
The Committee on Powers and Privileges conducted an inquiry into the conduct of Senator Orwoba's allegations and reached a verdict that she breached parliamentary privileges, hence sparking a serious debate among MPs.
"It is too extreme for the Committee on Powers and Privileges to take make such drastic recommendations when there are other options that this House could explore," Nyamira Senator Okong'o Omogeni stated.
In Orwoba's defence, Senator Omogeni claimed that the ruling Kenya Kwanza motion was out to punish one of their own yet there are avenues that could be used to correct her.
"It is former Senator James Orengo who stated that revolutions do eat their children. We can clearly see that happening in this House. They have turned against one of their own. This is a pity, Mr Speaker," Omogeni argued.
However, Omogeni's assertions were quickly slammed by his colleagues who claimed that Orwoba's allegations were outrageous, inflammatory and divisive in nature.
Even though he did not defend Senator Orwoba, Majority Leader of the Senate Aaron Cheruiyot requested the Speaker to allow the motion to be adjourned so that the leadership could take up 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 stated.
In May 2023, Orwoba raised complaints and concerns about what she termed as favouritism and sexual harassment from a powerful and influential office held by a man in the Senate.
Orwoba claimed that she was blowing a whistle on this ongoing Gender Base Violence in Parliament and that in retaliation, the powerful man pulled strings to hide her passport to ensure she does not speak at a United Nations event in Geneva.
"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.
