Azimio Party leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday, February 28 announced that he would not go ahead with the planned expulsion of nine rebel lawmakers who met President William Ruto at State House.
In an interview with KTN News, the former Prime Minister indicated that he made the decision after the Members of Parliament involved in the saga wrote to him explaining why they visited the president and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) chief further indicated that the party had initially planned to take action against the rebel MPs but he stopped the process.
"I've received written communication from them saying they did not defect from ODM and they went because they are following up on those projects," Odinga revealed.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke Dr Brian Mutie, an Advocate of the High Court and a Governance expert revealed that Raila's decision was in line with the concept of politics of numbers.
"No team wants to lose numbers in the house and expelling those MPs from the party would mean that Azimio's numbers in parliament diminish significantly," Mutie revealed.
Furthermore, Mutie indicated that Raila was taking a fatherly approach to the matter considering that most of the MPs who went to meet the President are first-time lawmakers.
"Most of those MPs are greenhorns and that comes with a lot of mistakes. Raila has therefore taken a fatherly position when dealing with them.
"That requires a warning, as was evident when the story first came out, but it is not wise to expel the MPs at this time when the country is just recovering from another election," Mutie contended.
According to the Governance Expert, expelling the legislators would mean they lose their seats in parliament and such a move would require a by-election, something that even ODM is not ready for.
On whether such a move would have a negative effect on the other MPs who were calling for the expulsion of the Rebels, Mutie contended that Raila is not fazed by the lawmakers.
"Raila is the leader of the opposition in Kenya and therefore does not play to the whims of anyone in ODM or Azimio. He is therefore imposing himself and stamping authority," he argued.
Furthermore, the Governance Expert indicated that before the change of heart, Raila may have read the riot act to the rebels and cautioned them against going against the party principles.
Kenyans.co.ke reached out to both the ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna and the Minority Whip in parliament Opiyo Wandai for comment.
According to Sifuna, the party's disciplinary processes were already in progress. However, Wandayi did not comment on the issue.
