The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) CEO, Ezra Chiloba, has broken his silence on questions that made him top the charts on Google, as the most searched personality in Kenya during the elections period.
In an interview with the Business Daily, Mr Chiloba has dismissed suspicions that he is married to a member of President Uhuru Kenyatta's family.
"Well, as much as it might be flattering it’s not true. I have no relations with the Kenyattas.
"You know when I was appointed, they said I was appointed because of Jomo Gecaga, a guy I’ve never met in my life. When the ballot paper thing came up, they said oh, it was Chiloba and Muhoho who fixed this stuff. Never met these guys in my life! Never met the president one-on-one," Chiloba said.
He added: "I saw pictures the other day of me and a lady in a wedding line-up who is supposedly my wife. That’s not my wife. I was in a wedding two years ago as the best man and the lady—an MP’s wife, was the best maid."
Mr Chiloba, a lawyer by profession, disclosed that he is happily married with an eight-year-old daughter and a son who is two.
Asked how his newly aquired fame affected the family, the CEO stated that he and his family were more concerned with their security than the fleeting "national infatuation".
"My son is two and my daughter is eight so I don’t think they understand this. That leaves my wife, of course she reads these things but I don’t know how she takes them," he told his interviewer, Jackson Biko.
Chiloba also explained how the "Chilobae" wave has affected his private life.
"You know, I don’t have a life anymore. I have to camouflage a lot.
"I went for shopping at Galleria Mall and everyone just stares and stops. They want selfies and families call out and say, 'Hey Chiloba come and say hello to my children!' Then I went to Yaya Centre and the same thing happened and I was like, oh my God, this is not nice. So my security guy was like, 'CEO, I think next time just go home straight from the office," Chiloba reiterated.
Concerning his work at the IEBC, he revealed that he has lost many friends, received over 5,000 love and hate text messages, but he is convinced that the team exceeded expectations.
Interestingly, Mr Chiloba had nothing bad to say about the "Chilobae" nickname that trended on Twitter.
"Oh boy. Can I tell you something? Do you know what my private e-mail address has always been? It’s Chiloba with an 'e' at the end. So I guess I have always been Chilobae," he revealed during the interview.