Win for Orwoba in case with Senate Clerk

The Clerk of the Senate has lost an attempt to increase legal costs awarded to him against former nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba from Sh66,290 to Sh2.1 million.

The High Court struck out the Clerk’s application for being filed outside the statutory deadline of 14 days from the date of the legal fees ruling.

Justice Patricia Nyaundi ruled that the application was incompetent because it was filed beyond the 14-day period set by the Advocates Remuneration Order.

The dispute arose from Ms Orwoba’s 2023 attempt to stop a Senate inquiry into her conduct after the Senate Committee on Powers and Privileges initiated disciplinary proceedings against her.

The Senate adopted a committee report on September 20, 2023, and resolved to suspend her for the remainder of that session over alleged breach of parliamentary privilege.

Ms Orwoba, who was nominated by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), had filed a Constitutional petition asking the High Court in Nairobi to bar the Senate Committee on Powers and Privileges from proceeding, but the court declined interim orders.

The petition named the Attorney-General, Clerk of the Senate, Speaker, Senate Committee on Powers and Privileges and the Senate.

Ms Orwoba later filed a notice to withdraw the Nairobi petition, asking that each side bear its own costs. The respondents opposed the withdrawal, arguing that she had pursued a judicial review case in Machakos seeking to halt the same Senate decision.

The court declined to approve the withdrawal at that stage and dismissed the petition in January 2025, ruling that she had been given an opportunity to appear before the committee but chose not to participate. The Senate subsequently enforced the suspension, which it later varied.

The costs dispute began after a court ruling awarded costs to the Clerk. The Clerk submitted a bill seeking Sh2.1 million. The court’s Deputy Registrar assessed it at Sh66,290 occasioning, a difference of over Sh2 million.

The Clerk challenged the assessment, arguing that the deputy registrar had failed to consider submissions, undervalued the instruction fees and wrongly assessed nine items. It said the case involved constitutional questions, urgent applications and institutional implications for the Senate. It also argued that an opposed constitutional petition attracted minimum instruction fees of Sh100,000.

The Clerk asked the High Court to set aside the taxation ruling and order an assessment, saying the award did not reflect the work and responsibility involved.

Ms Orwoba opposed the application, saying it identified no error of principle. She argued that the deputy registrar had considered the nature and importance of the matter, the time involved and the work done. She also said the petition had not proceeded to a hearing and had been withdrawn at an early stage.

She further argued that the reference was filed in the wrong case file and outside the time limit. The Clerk said the filing issue was a technical error that could be cured by consolidating the files, and that Ms Orwoba had understood and answered the application.

Justice Nyaundi found that the registrar’s taxation ruling itself contained the reasons for the assessment, so the Clerk could not extend the deadline by waiting for a response. It noted that the contested ruling was delivered on February 27, 2025; the notice of objection and request for reasons followed on March 13; the reference was lodged on March 28.

The court held that the 14-day period ran from the taxation ruling date because its reasons were already stated.

“No grounds have been laid before me to exercise my discretion to enlarge time,” Justice Nyaundi said. The court struck out the reference as incompetent, leaving the Sh66,290 assessment in place.

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