Former Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba has hit a legal hitch in her attempt to appeal her expulsion from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) for being disloyal and indisciplined.
The High Court dismissed her petition saying she had previously filed a similar case with the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT), whose case is still pending.
The court found that Orwoba had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for pursuing remedies in both the High Court and the tribunal at the same time.
“That conduct smacks of forum shopping that this court shall not condone. The petitioner is bestriding both the High Court and the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal at the same time…which amounts to abuse of the court process,” Justice Mugambi ruled.
In its objection, UDA’s lawyer, Dr. Adrian Kamotho, argued that allowing the case to proceed in both the High Court and the tribunal risked “embarrassing” the two bodies with potentially similar findings.
“We are staring at a situation where this court will be seized with this matter based on its original jurisdiction and possibly on appellate jurisdiction. To avoid that conundrum, we have filed the application to strike out the petition, since the petitioner is exercising her right to access a judicial forum at PPDT. We state that the petitioner came to this court with misleading information,” said Dr. Kamotho.
Orwoba, however, denied engaging in forum shopping. She claimed the UDA disciplinary proceedings were improperly instituted, arguing that there were no established rules or guidelines to govern the process. She maintained that the proceedings threatened her constitutional rights to a fair trial and fair administrative action.
In its ruling, the court noted that by filing her claim with the Tribunal, Ms. Orwoba had effectively acknowledged its jurisdiction over her grievances and its ability to offer adequate remedies.
“The Petitioner should stay in that course and only when she is dissatisfied with the outcome should she approach the High Court by way of an appeal,” the judge stated.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi upheld an objection by the party, directing Orwoba to first exhaust the tribunal process.
“In my humble view, this petition presents complaints about the first respondent’s (UDA) handling of disciplinary procedure against the petitioner, which is a matter the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal is mandated by the Act to deal with in the first instance…the High Court is vested with the appellate jurisdiction,” said the judge.
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