- Kerrow said it is the harshest punishment he has seen a member of the House receive.
- Orwoba has been restricted from accessing the precincts of parliament for the entire period of suspension.
Image: FILE
Former Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow has said Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba could lose her position after she was suspended from attending parliament sessions for a period of six months.
Speaking in a TV interview on Wednesday, Kerrow said it is the harshest punishment he has seen a member of the House receive.
"This is the harshest I have seen. I have not seen a ruling of a speaker in so many decades where a member of parliament has been suspended for six months. Perhaps it was the gravity of the matter," Kerrow said.
"If the suspension is for six months, and if during the six months, there are more than eight sessions that she is going to miss, then effectively she could cease to be a senator."
Kerrow alleged that once Orwoba misses more than eight sessions in parliament and senate, then the speaker will write to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for her to lose her seat as a nominated senator.
Orwoba was suspended on Wednesday after the House adopted the Powers and Privileges Committee report tabled on August 10.
It 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 on Wednesday 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,” it added.
Orwoba has been restricted from accessing the precincts of parliament for the entire period of suspension.
She will not attend senate plenary and committee sessions and thus forgo all the allowances.
Apart from that, Orwoba is also barred from local and foreign travel.
On resumption of Senate sitting in February, Orwoba will be required to, apologize to the Senate, Senators, the Clerk of the Senate and the secretariat of Parliament.
What Constitution says
The standing orders provide that if you miss eight sittings consecutively without the speaker's permission, you can lose your seat.
But in this case, punishment is already rendered so no worry of losing a seat.