Former nominated senator Gloria Magoma Orwoba has moved to the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court seeking to stop the swearing-in of Consolata Wabwire, who was gazetted as her successor.
In her urgent application, Orwoba argues that the decision by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to gazette Wabwire, and the Senate’s subsequent move to swear her in, is unlawful and procedurally flawed. She now wants the High Court to intervene and halt the process until her case is fully determined.
Orwoba is contesting three key gazette notices. The first is the May 21, 2025 declaration of vacancy in her Senate seat. The second is the IEBC’s gazettement of Wabwire on August 15, 2025, as a nominated senator. The third is the Senate’s gazette notice of August 18, 2025, confirming plans to swear in Wabwire. Orwoba maintains that these actions are void, unconstitutional, and deliberately aimed at denying her justice.
She further seeks a conservatory order quashing all the contested notices, arguing that the respondents UDA, the National Senate, IEBC, and the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties violated her political rights, her right to fair administrative action, and her right to a fair hearing. According to her petition, the actions to expel her from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and remove her from the party’s register were unconstitutional and intended to silence her politically.
Orwoba insists that the case is still pending before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT), whose decision is expected on August 20, 2025. She claims the respondents acted in bad faith, rushing to install her replacement in order to frustrate her appeal before the tribunal.
She now wants the High Court to not only block the swearing-in of her successor but also issue a declaration barring further infringement on her rights as a nominated senator. In her view, the gazettement of her successor undermines due process and sets a dangerous precedent for handling internal party disputes and parliamentary replacements.
The matter now awaits determination by the court, which will decide whether to grant the conservatory orders sought and temporarily halt the entry of Wabwire into the Senate until the substantive issues are resolved.
