It is only audit report that can exonerate Chiloba, says his nemesis Chebukati

IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) boss Ezra Chiloba will not be allowed back into the commission, unless an ongoing audit clears him.

Mr Chiloba, the CEO, was sent on a three-month compulsory leave to allow investigations into a Sh3.8 billion contract for a company that supplied elections technology to IEBC.

Yesterday, IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati (pictured) told a parliamentary watchdog the ongoing comprehensive audit where Chiloba was mentioned would have to be concluded pending a decision on his return.

Senate’s Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee chairperson Samson Cherargei had sought to know what IEBC would do if the three-month suspension elapsed when they had not decided the contents of the audit and the fate of Chiloba.

DETERMINE FATE

“The CEO has to report to the chair when he gets back. We shall have had the audit report that will determine his fate,” said Chebukati. He regretted that the matter had been misreported to insinuate that Chiloba's suspension was his personal decision, yet the remaining commissioners had also voted in agreement.

“To request an in-depth audit with an expanded scope covering all major procurements… this resolution was unanimously adopted,” said Chebukati in a statement he read to the Senate committee.

It was not the first time Chebukati had sent Chiloba on leave. Just before the repeat presidential election of October 26, he suspended the CEO for a month.

Early last month, Chiloba unsuccessfully sought the Labour Court's intervention to lift his suspension.