Nominated Senator Goria Orwoba./FILENominated Senator Gloria Orwoba has suffered a blow after the High Court dismissed her attempt to block her expulsion from the UDA party.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that her application was incompetent, citing amended petition without court's approval.
"I have read the Notice of Motion application dated May 19, 2025, filed under certificate of rgency and the supporting affidavit Gloria Orwoba swore on May 19, 2025 and direct as follows.
"That it is apparent that the applicant has added new parties who are not in the original petition and without seeking the leave of this court to amend the petition. The Application is incompetent and is rejected. Previous directions are maintained," the Judge ruled.
In the initial petition, Orwoba had listed UDA and the Registrar of Political Parties as first and second respondents respectively.
Orwoba was on Monday expelled from the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party due to allegations of disloyalty and violation of the party’s Code of Conduct.
Her expulsion was specifically linked to her participation in the homecoming events for former Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i, a key opposition figure and 2027 presidential hopeful.
UDA viewed her involvement in the events, along with her public criticism of government policies, as acts of disloyalty and a breach of party ideals.
The decision was arrived at by the party’s Disciplinary Committee after exhaustive deliberations and ratified by the UDA National Executive Committee on May 19, 2025.
UDA emphasised that while it upholds freedom of expression, loyalty and fidelity to party ideals are fundamental, and Orwoba "cannot continue to play for two political teams simultaneously".
The party effectively wrote to the Speaker of the Senatec, Amason Kingi, asking him to initiate her removal from Parliament and nominated Consolata Wabwire Wakwabubi to fill the resultant vacancy.
Orwoba immediately challenged the decision under a certificate of urgency, but Justice Mugambi indicated that the petition falls short of basic standards of initiating a judicial process.
Previosuly, the High Court had granted Orwoba temporary reprieve by issuing orders suspending UDA's internal disciplinary measures against her which had been scheduled for May 16.
Court’s decision was primarily grounded in concerns about application of natural justice and fair administrative process.
The court found that Orwoba had not been afforded adequate opportunity to respond to the allegations or participate meaningfully in the disciplinary process before the party moved to expel her.
This raised serious questions about whether the party had established prima facie evidence of gross misconduct to justify such a severe sanction as expulsion.
