Former Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba has suffered a setback in her bid to reverse the decision to expel her from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) over alleged disloyalty and indiscipline.
The High Court struck out her petition on grounds that she had initiated a similar case at the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT), which is still ongoing.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi directed her to exhaust the tribunal process, as he upheld an objection raised by the party against the court proceedings.
“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.
He stated that Ms Orwoba failed to satisfactorily explain why she was simultaneously pursuing a remedy at both the High Court and the tribunal.
“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,” said Justice Mugambi.
In the objection, UDA’s lawyer Dr Adrian Kamotho argued that there was a possibility of the court and the tribunal being "embarrassed" with two 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.
For her part, Ms Orwomba denied that she was forum shopping.
She also argued that the UDA disciplinary proceedings were instituted improperl, saying there were no laid down rules and guidelines to guide the process, thus contending that the process was a threat to her constitutional right to a fair trial and a fair administrative action.
But in the ruling, the court noted that by choosing to institute the claim before the Tribunal, that in itself confirmed that Ms Orwoba acknowledged that it not only had jurisdiction over her grievances but also adequate remedies for the same.
“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 explained.
