She came, she saw…Defiant Gloria Orwoba faces bleak future after Senate ouster

But the 39-year-old legislator has growing roots in Kenyan politics, having thrown her hat in the ring when she unsuccessfully vied for the Kisii County Executive for the Youth in 2017.

She faced another defeat in 2019, when she contested to be the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party candidate for Bobasi Constituency, Kisii County.

Her allegiance saw her maintain her UDA membership, and in the run-up to the 2022 General Election, she sycophantically drummed up support for William Ruto's presidential candidature.

It paid off because shortly after Ruto was elected President, she was awarded a nominated seat in the Senate.

Red stain protest

She remained tight-lipped until February 2023, when she strode on the National Assembly lawns with white pants stained red at the groin area, her agenda - protesting against period poverty and period shaming in the country.

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi kicked her out of the House, asking her to use the opportunity to change her clothes.

Nominated Senator Tabitha Mutinda described Orwoba’s dressing as “inappropriate” and “indecent,” while Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua and his Narok counterpart, Ledama ole Kina, agreed with her sentiments.

Some of the Senators argued that Ms. Orwoba should, at the very least, have covered herself after noticing that she was on her period, as she alleged. 

She remained vocal about her campaign to curb period stigmatisation, even erecting billboards on issuing free pads.

A few months later, Orwoba made harassment accusations against the Senate, alleging that there were instances of the pursuit of sexual favours in Parliament by posting messages on the Senate business WhatsApp group.

In September 2023, Orwoba was slapped with a six-month suspension after the Senate's Powers and Privileges Committee adopted a report proposing the move since she failed to appear before it to defend herself against charges levelled against her.

The Nominated Senator was also accused of making allegations of favouritism and discrimination on the Senate WhatsApp group and during a press conference, as well as unsubstantiated reports of corruption in the Senate.

She was summoned to the Powers and Privileges Committee, but according to the report, she failed to appear and defend herself.

She was allowed back to the House chambers in October after she obtained conservatory orders dismissing the suspension.

Slowly yet conspicuously, she was becoming a thorn in Kenya's Senate.

A sample into power

After a silent stint, Orwoba resurfaced on the fore of political limelight in 2024, this time with President Ruto cheekily pinching her cheeks.

The anomalous incident occurred at the State House when President Ruto was gearing up for a press conference after a Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group Meeting (PGM) to address the nation ahead of the tabling of the 2024 Finance Bill report.

While Ruto was on standby waiting for all legislators to muster behind him, and standing at the lectern, he turned and had a brief colloquy with Orwoba while pinching her cheeks, and she smiled back.

Despite the sparking middling uproar, Orwoba was seemingly proving to be affable with the powers that be, granting her prestige with the President's clique.

She later elucidated on the matter, stating that the President was chiding her over her remarks on a WhatsApp group chat before the presser.

“There was some disagreement in our WhatsApp group. I insulted someone because I felt they weren’t doing their job well and had spoken to me disrespectfully,” Orwoba said as quoted by K24.

“During the presser, the President noticed I was standing behind him and pinched me as a subtle way of warning me to avoid such behaviour and treat people with respect.”

Ghost of Senate suspensions

The ghosts of her being chased out of the Senate haunted her yet again in February after the High Court gave the House the liberty to take necessary action against her for failing to appear to a summons over harassment accusations she had filed against the Senate in 2023.

The Senator had been suspended from participating in House sittings after the Clerk and the House collectively decided to take disciplinary action against her misconduct.

She was, however, granted grounds to apologise to the House for her suspension to be lifted, but she declined to read the prescribed apology, and instead proceeded to read out her own apology, which the Speaker declined, citing that it was not the one prescribed by the House.

Orwoba, in response, claimed that the written apology was self-incriminating and would jeopardise her in an ongoing court case, adding that she was ready to face the consequences rather than place herself in a self-incriminating situation before walking out.

Two days later, she ate her humble pie and read the prescribed apology, securing her return to the Senate.

The end

Orwoba was slowly proving to be knocking at her exit door after she poked holes into the labour mobility programme, a critical pillar in President Ruto's government, during an interview with Spice FM on April 22, 2025.

She later attended the welcoming of former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), and his subsequent home-coming ceremony at Gusii stadium in May.

This granted her a summons by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) disciplinary committee over her conduct that they said contravenes the party's Code of Conduct.

"Your participation and utterances in the above-stated events clearly demonstrate instances and proof of allegiance to another political movement, conduct unbecoming and disloyalty to the UDA party and which nominated you to the office and position of Senator in the Senate of the Republic of Kenya," read the summons.

She, however, failed to avail herself, prompting the party to expel her on the grounds of gross misconduct and violating the party's constitution.

She was found guilty on several counts of misconduct, including making public statements that harmed the party's image and repeatedly failing to respond to disciplinary charges.

The ruling party further withdrew its sponsorship of the legislator to the Senate and nominated Consolata Wabwire Wakwabubi, who hails from Kimilili in Bungoma, to replace her.

Orwoba's attempt to challenge the expulsion was dismissed by the High Court in Nairobi as Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that the application was incompetent, citing procedural irregularities.

Speaker Kingi announced a vacancy in her Senate position on May 21, 2025.

Her stint in leadership, which has lasted a year and 7 months, has seen her generating more light than heat.

Orwoba has however, obtained court orders suspending the implementation of UDA's disciplinary committee, in effect temporarily stopping her ouster.