Four Jubilee MPs Alfred Keter, Silas Tiren, David Bowen and Alex Kosgey have refused to resign as earlier ordered by Deputy President William Ruto after their election to key house committee positions backfired.

Speculations were rife on Monday through Tuesday that the four had succumbed to pressure form State House, but they now maintain that they would follow the House Standing Orders, which was used to elect them to the posts.

The on Tuesday reported of a standoff in which Keter (Labour and Social Welfare, Tiren (Agriculture), Bowen (Environment and Natural Resources) and Kosgey (Trade, Industry and Cooperatives) reliably said that they would not resign from their positions.

The new assertion from the lawmakers comes barely a month after they moved to court and sued Jubilee Party, National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale and chief whip Benjamin Washiali.

Discrimination

The High Court would stop the earlier decision by the party to expunge their names from the list of chairpersons of various committees of the house.

They argued that the decision to expunge them was discrimination by the party and that it infringed their democratic rights.

DP Ruto is said to have phoned the four to quit the positions after the matter ended in court, but sources indicate that he failed to win them.

“He was very harsh and told us he wanted the region to be united and he was unhappy with the four,” an MP who attended the Weston meeting said.

It is perceived the four, who hail from DP Ruto’s stronghold, were required to relinquish the posts to enhance regional balance.

DP Ruto is said to have engaged Cherangani MP Joshua Kuttuny who would inject new blood in seemingly cold blood.

Seek redress

Earlier, Mr Duale, in a statement, maintained that the decision to de-whip the four remain a sole discretion of the Uhuru Kenyatta led Jubilee party, adding that the internal affairs cannot become a subject of the court even if the four have a legal right to seek redress.

Mr Duale instead directed the four aggrieved lawmakers to seek redress from the Political Parties Tribunal.

“The member subsequently stands discharged from the committee and if aggrieved by the decision of his party he may opt to have the matter resolved by the Political Parties Tribunal which is established under Political Parties Act, 2011,” he advised the four.