On Tuesday, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino was ejected from the National Assembly by Speaker Moses Wetangula for arriving in an advocate’s gown and collar - attire reserved for practicing lawyers rather than legislators.

This was after Mathare North MP Anthony Oluoch raised a point of order, arguing that the advocate’s collar was inappropriate for a legislator and belonged exclusively to courtroom proceedings.

Agreeing that the attire contravened standing orders, Speaker Wetangula directed Owino to vacate the chamber and return in proper parliamentary dress.

The lawmaker’s choice of attire stemmed from his attendance earlier that morning at the Milimani Law Courts, where he had appeared as counsel for missing blogger Ndiang’ui Kinyagia.

Kinyagia’s disappearance on 21 June 2025 sparked a High Court petition arguing unlawful detention by security agencies.

Owino joined a team of lawyers from the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to press for the production of their client, whose family and legal team alleged he had been taken by plainclothes officers and had yet to be presented before a court despite being missing for over a week.

In his submissions before Justice Chacha Mwita, Owino highlighted that an inventory taken during the raid on Kinyagia’s apartment confirmed police had seized electronic devices and effectively taken him into custody, yet no charge had been filed nor had he been brought before the court.

DCI Director Mohamed Amin acknowledged that the agency had no record of detaining Kinyagia, prompting Justice Mwita to order the Inspector General of Police and the DCI Director to produce him by July 3, 2025 or appear again in court to explain his continued absence.

Owino’s court appearance marked only weeks since he was admitted to the Roll of Advocates on 23 May 2025, earning the formal right to wear the gown and collar in legal proceedings.

Only weeks earlier, on 23 May 2025, Owino stood before Chief Justice Martha Koome at the Supreme Court as one of 609 new advocates formally admitted to the Roll of Advocates .

The ceremony marked the culmination of his legal training. After graduating with First Class Honours in Actuarial Science from the University of Nairobi in 2012, he completed his law degree and the Kenya School of Law course before qualifying as an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.

The incident in Parliament has drawn attention to the increasingly blurred lines between Owino’s roles as a legislator and as a practising lawyer.

While parliamentary dress codes prohibit advocates’ regalia in the chamber, the MP’s decision to attend directly from court underlines the demands of his dual professions.

As the High Court matter over Ndiangui Kinyagia’s disappearance progresses, all eyes will remain on whether security agencies comply with the judge’s orders by the specified deadline.

Meanwhile, Owino’s ejection serves as a reminder that parliamentary protocol and legal privileges do not always align.