The Political Parties Dispute Tribunal on Tuesday, suspended the expulsion of 3 parliamentarians from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party.
The MPs include Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Phelix Odiwuor (Lang’ata), and Tom Ojienda (Kisumu Senator).
While issuing the directive, the tribunal stated that the new order will remain in effect until an application challenging their ouster is determined.
The tribunal further issued an order stopping the Registrar of Political Parties from effecting changes pertaining to the expulsion in question.
The tribunal also blocked the political outfit from removing the MPs from their Parliamentary committee roles.
As such, the case will be mentioned on September 20, 2023.
The 3 lawmakers were expelled from the Raila-led party on the grounds of gross misconduct and disloyalty to the party.
Last week, the parliamentarians moved to the PPDT to challenge their ouster, seeking conservatory orders to stop ODM from kicking them out of the party.
They also wanted the tribunal to block the party from removing them from their various parliamentary committees.
Claiming the party was scapegoating them for their close relationship with the President, the 3 lawmakers; Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Phelix Odiwuor (Lang’ata), Tom Ojienda (Senator Kisumu) each filed their individual motions.
The ODM party leader, Raila Odinga, on his part, defended the party’s decision to expel the lawmakers.
In a past statement, Odinga chastised the MPs for betraying the political outfit, maintaining that ODM’s strength relies on the discipline of its members.
“ODM must be a strong party. The party can only be strong when there’s discipline. It cannot progress when there are cases of indiscipline,” he said.
By TONNY OGWA
Source-https://www.kenyans.co.ke/
Political Parties Tribunal Suspends ODM’s Decision to Expel MPs
