Party leaders are using expulsion from lucrative parliamentary committees as a way of dealing with errant members because the process is easy and it hits MPs where it matters most; their pockets.This week’s removal of Rarieda MP Otiende Amolo as the vice-chairman of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee by the Orange Democratic movement (ODM) followed that script, perfected in recent days by the ruling Jubilee Party.Mr Otiende was removed on what the chairman of ODM John Mbadi said was failure to promote party ideals in the committee.“He was put in that position to champion the interest of ODM and the Handshake. If as a party we have realised he is not doing that, then what is the reason for him staying there?” posed Mr Mbadi, who added that members are placed in the committees not to serve their interests but those of their political parties.Read: ODM cracks whip on rebel membersRemoval of a member from a committee is not tedious as it only requires a letter to the speaker from the leadership of the political party or coalition that sponsored the member. There are 622 committee slots, which ideally should be shared among members in a fair and transparent manner.In a bid to win slots in lucrative committees, MPs who made it to Parliament either as independent candidates or through smaller parties have been aligning to either Jubilee, ODM or Wiper. As a result, the three parties, the only ones recognised as parliamentary parties, have been using this window to hunt for MPs from briefcase parties.Trusted alliesAfter kicking out Deputy President William Ruto’s allies from key committees last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga put their trusted allies in vantage positions for crucial decisions such as the passage of the Building Bridges Initiative Bill, which was overwhelmingly nodded through in the National Assembly this week.Read: Uhuru men ready to kick Ruto out of Jubilee as row persistsIn the purge, MPs allied to the DP lost their positions as chairpersons of various committees. Ms Gladys Shollei (Uasin Gishu), Mr Kimani Ichung’wah (Kikuyu) and Mr William Cheptumo (Baringo North) lost their positions as chairpersons for Delegated Legislation, Budget and Appropriation, and Justice and Legal Affairs committees, respectively.Others shown the door were Mandera South MP Ali Adan (Agriculture committee) and his Machakos Town counterpart Victor Munyaka (Sports, Culture and Tourism).In the Senate Mr Kipchumba Murkomen was shown the door as Majority Leader and Ms Susan Kihika kicked out as Majority Whip. Many of these members have never been heard again after being de-whipped from the positions.Legal processesWith long and unwinding legal processes making party heads think twice about suspending members, removal from lucrative committees appears to be the easy way out. Mr Odinga’s ODM, for instance, is yet to finalise the removal of Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa from the lucrative Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), where she is serving as a commissioner courtesy of Orange House.While the fiery Malindi lawmaker has already decamped to William Ruto’s camp — and even voted against the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill on Thursday night — ODM is stuck with her because it followed the long route out. The last time the matter was heard, it was the Rarieda MP, together with other lawmakers in the party, who led the proceedings.In Jubilee, despite suspension of six nominated senators, they are still serving and drawing all the benefits in terms of salaries and allowances. BY DAILY NATION