Sharp divisions have rocked the electoral commission following a decision to send CEO Ezra Chiloba on compulsory leave.
Only days after Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati sent Mr Chiloba home for three months "to allow audit of the 2017 election financial processes", IEBC Vice Chairperson Connie Maina broke ranks with him and asked Chiloba to report to work.
Chebukati made the decision to suspend Chiloba last Friday, during a tense meeting in which Ms Maina and Commissioner Paul Kurgat walked out in protest, saying the move was irregular.
Backed by commissioners Abdi Guliye and Boya Molu, the chairman wrote a memo, which he scanned and sent to Chiloba’s email. He did not copy any commissioners.
During the meeting, Maina and Dr Kurgat rejected an agenda to discuss the removal of the CEO, which had been introduced by the chairman under "Any other Business" during the monthly meeting.
OFFICIAL TRIP
“I came to the office in the afternoon. I now have the memo from the chairman to me. The memo is not copied to other commissioners,” Chiloba told The Standard yesterday while confirming the three-month suspension.
Chebukati left for Nigeria on Sunday on what is said to be an official trip.
After receiving the suspension notice, Chiloba is said to have written to Maina, who is the acting chairperson in the absence of Chebukati, saying although he was protesting the grounds of his suspension, he would nevertheless prefer to go on leave.
But Maina wrote back asking the CEO to stay on and await the next plenary decision.
“I am not aware that the CEO is suspended because I have not been copied on the said memo. I have asked the CEO to come to office and continue discharging his duties,” she said.
She confirmed that she and Kurgat had rejected the agenda to discuss Chiloba's removal because of the way it was presented at plenary.
“Dr Kurgat and I walked out of the meeting, leaving behind the chairman, Prof (Guliye) and Molu. Whatever they decided after that, we are not aware and cannot be part of plenary decision.”
The commission currently has six commissioners after Roselyn Akombe fled the country and resigned shortly before the October 26 repeat presidential election, citing infighting at the commission and personal security fears.
Friday’s was the seventh attempt by Chebukati to oust his CEO in the last one year and the third after last year’s presidential election.
A similar move was thwarted on March 16, after the commissioners were split down the middle with Chebukati, Guliye and Boya on one side and Maina, Kurgat and Margaret Mwachanya on the other.
This time, Ms Mwachanya was in Dubai.
