Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba has suggested that impeached Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza might have avoided removal if there had been more elected women senators. In a statement following the Senate’s decision to uphold Mwangaza’s impeachment, Orwoba criticized those who supported the governor’s removal.
“Defend the removal all you want, but that doesn’t change the Grounds for impeachment. The truth is, if there were more elected women Senators sitting in that chamber, the outcome would be different. That’s a fact! G7 is now G6… Congrats patriarchy,” she said.
The Senator insisted that politics is a game of numbers and that women in Kenya should join to be safe.
She said that as long as there are few women in leadership, patriarchy will never come to an end.
Orwoba said because of this, women will always have it rough.
“I keep shouting and I continue to shout about this: Women in Kenya need to join politics! This is a numbers game, as long as we have minimum elected women, the patriarchy will never end and women leaders will always have it rough and unfair! This is the cross we bear,” she said in another post on X.
Her comments followed the Senate’s decision to uphold Mwangaza’s impeachment. Out of the Senate, 26 senators voted to support the first charge of gross violation of the constitution and other laws, while 14 abstained and four voted in her favor.
For the second charge of gross misconduct, 26 senators voted for her impeachment, two against, and 14 abstained. On the third charge of abuse of office, 27 senators upheld the charge, one voted against, and 14 abstained. Most of the abstentions came from senators allied with Opposition parties. This marks Mwangaza’s third impeachment case to reach the Senate since her election in August 2022.
