ODM chairman and nominated MP John Mbadi now says that the party did not expel rebel MPs as it has widely been reported.
Speaking on Thursday, Mbadi said the party assumed the five legislators had resigned from the party.
This, he said, was in relation to Article 14 (b) of the Political Parties Act which says that members who push for the agenda of other parties are deemed to have resigned.
"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 remarks come a few days after the party announced that it had written to the Registrar of Political Parties to have the five MPs removed from the party list.
The five included Phelix Odiwuor (Lang'ata), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Tom Ojienda (Senator of Kisumu County) and Elisha Odhiambo (Gem).
The five have been showing open dalliance with President William Ruto, a move the ODM party says is rebellion.
Their removal as members of the ODM party has, however, been stopped temporarily by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal (PPDT) pending a hearing and determination of the matter.