Mbadi says, “I want to emphasize that we are not issuing expulsions to these members. I believe there may have been some misinformation circulating.”
ODM Chairman and nominated MP, John Mbadi, has clarified that the party did not expel rebel MPs, contrary to earlier reports. Instead, he revealed that the party assumed that the five legislators had voluntarily chosen to resign. These statements were made in light of the provisions outlined in Article 14 (b) of the Political Parties Act, which deals with members advocating for the agendas of other parties being deemed to have resigned.
Speaking on Thursday, John Mbadi sought to set the record straight regarding the status of the rebel MPs. He emphasized that the party’s actions did not entail expulsion, as has been widely reported, but rather an interpretation of the relevant section of the Political Parties Act.
“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 explained during an interview on Spice FM.
He further elaborated, “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.”
This clarification follows the recent announcement by the ODM party that it had officially written to the Registrar of Political Parties requesting the removal of the five MPs from the party’s list of members. The five MPs in question are Phelix Odiwuor (Lang’ata), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Tom Ojienda (Senator of Kisumu County), and Elisha Odhiambo (Gem).
These legislators had openly shown support for President William Ruto, a move deemed as rebellion by the ODM party. However, their removal from the ODM party was temporarily halted by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal (PPDT), pending a hearing and a final determination of the matter.
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