Senator Orwoba in court yet again, where her political dreams died!

Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba. [File, Standard] In a last gasp attempt at hanging onto a relationship she has grown tired of, Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba is back to a place that consistently dishes to her disappointment - the courts. The senator has petitioned against her expulsion from the ruling UDA, whose decision was swiftly ratified in a gazette notice by Senate Speaker Amason Kingi that declared her seat vacant. The notice, signed with the cold efficiency of a bureaucratic guillotine, chopped her off the party tree, where loyalty is currency. That is not to say that Orwoba does not understand the concept. She has been loyal to the same brand of lipstick and the drawer of crooked eyebrows since her days as a political commentator. It is strange that Orwoba would be running for refuge in the corridors of justice, given her most recent experience there. After badmouthing her colleagues, accusing some of sexual harassment, she had hoped the courts would overturn her suspension from the Senate last year. The result? Disappointment. On Wednesday, the High Court granted her a reprieve when it temporarily blocked her removal as senator. The chances that she will be reunited with her long-time friend, disappointment, are 50-50. She is open to this possibility. In a recent TV interview, she acknowledged that she could well be "half-term" - a name Bunge's Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro has assigned to allies of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Osoro counsels that WanTam is not a befitting name for Riggy G's movement. HalfTam, the Mheshimiwa says, would be more befitting to reflect their reality. Orwoba's fight to remain in UDA is perplexing, to say the least. It is a cheeky attempt at political polyandry. The nominated senator recently declared that all women were with former Waziri Fred Matiang'i, whom she had sacrificed sleep to welcome back home. "Wamama tunatafuta nyumba ambayo tutaishi kwa amani," Orwoba barked at a rally in Kisii, convened in Matiang'i's honour. Who was this denying Orwoba peace at UDA? Was it President William Ruto? Did she find offence when Bwana Kasongo pinched her on the cheek? Would that explain why she now chants WanTam at the top of her lungs? Why she regrets impeaching Riggy G? It's been a dramatic two-year run for the nominated Senator, best known for storming Parliament in 2023 in a brave feminist, much like the bra-burning '70s. She came to national attention when she entered Parliament wearing white suit pants stained with red to highlight the stigma surrounding menstruation and the reality of period poverty. It was a calculated, provocative move-and it worked. Her protest sparked national conversation about the shame that still surrounds menstruation and the daily indignities faced by schoolgirls across Kenya. She was mocked, especially by fellow women in Parliament, but that only underscored how much her message needed to be heard. Orwoba turned heads and stomachs, and the Senate chamber became a national debate club on menstruation. Her goal? Push the uncomfortable into public discourse. Her performance was bold. Provocative. Borderline soap opera. But like most soap operas, it quickly descended into unnecessary drama and untruths. Once hailed as the 'Pad Lady of Parliament', Orwoba seemed ready to revolutionise menstrual health policy. She had the pads, the platform, and-unfortunately-the political tact of a sledgehammer. She mostly opted for billboards to spread her message, some costing upwards of sh 250,000 a month. Because nothing says grassroots activism like giant, garish, menstrual-themed billboards mounted everywhere. Gloria, dear, for that money, you could've built an ablution block in a rural school. But I guess flashy signs are sexier than sanitation. Not to be outdone by her PR team, she would go on to accuse fellow senators of sexual harassment-in a WhatsApp group, no less-promptly get suspended. When asked to apologise, Gloria gave the nation a performance worthy of an Oscar - refusing to read the apology as prescribed, strutting into the Senate as though it were her personal catwalk, and reminding us all that she "doesn't do scripts." And then came the cardinal sin: associating with the enemy. Her ouster, we are told, comes after she violated the UDA party code of conduct. In the ever-loyal world of Kenyan politics, that's the equivalent of smooching your ex at your wedding. To her credit, Orwoba never lacked volume. Whether on social media, TV, or Parliament microphones, she delivered speeches with the subtlety of a fire alarm. She could rattle off a list of donated sanitary pads before you could say "policy framework." Unfortunately, providing menstrual products to schoolgirls makes you Wonder Woman. Someone ought to remind her that this is not charity-it's policy. It's enshrined in Kenya's Menstrual Hygiene Management Policy. So Gloria wasn't doing us a favour. She was doing her job-loudly, repeatedly, and with the subtlety of a marching band. In a country where femicide rates are rising, GBV survivors are silenced, and menstruation is still a curse word in many villages, the last thing we need is a menstrual messiah whose biggest contribution is distributing disposable pads and "performative feminism." Orwoba picked fights with the Senate, the President, her colleagues, and perhaps even her own reflection. Of course, not all of it was noise. She did raise important issues-menstrual stigma (and even sponsored a bill to end sanitary towel poverty), femicide, and gender representation. But her delivery was tragically flawed, as if activism was just another X post. Orwoba has now joined the prestigious alumni association of politicians who flew too close to the flame - except in this case, she mistook the Senate for a beauty pageant and the Constitution for a diary. Whatever her future is, let's hope it involves some reflection.

Senator Orwoba in court yet again, where her political dreams died!

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Senator Orwoba in court yet again, where her political dreams died!

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