Piece by: BRIAN ORUTA

14 September 2023

• This, he said, was in relation to Article 14 (b) of the Political Parties Act which says that members who push for agenda of other parties are deemed to have resigned.

According to ODM Chairman and Nominated MP John Mbadi, the party did not expel rebel MPs as has been widely reported.

Speaking on Thursday, Mbadi stated that the party believed the five lawmakers had left the party.

He explained that this was in reference to Political Parties Act Article 14(b), which states that members are presumed to have resigned if they further the agenda of other parties.

"I want to be clear that we are not expelling these members. I think there has been misinformation so to speak, that we are expelling the members. If you look at the Political Parties Act, various actions could be taken against a member one of them is expulsion," Mbadi said on Spice FM.

"There is section 14 (b) which talks about expulsion, how a member should be expelled and grounds upon which a member can be expelled but section 14 (b) which is distinct is about deeming a member to have resigned from a party that is the section we are applying."

His comments came shortly after the party declared that it had written to the Registrar of Political Parties to request the removal of the five MPs from the party list.

The five were Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Phelix Odiwuor (Lang'ata), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), and Tom Ojienda (Senator of Kisumu County).

The ODM party claims that the five are rebelling because they have been openly having affairs with President William Ruto.

However, the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal (PPDT) has temporarily halted their expulsion from the ODM party pending a hearing and decision on the subject.