The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been stopped from replacing senior officials who have retired, resigned or been fired from the commission by the National Treasury.
In a letter by Treasury PS Kamau Thuge to acting CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan, the government has frozen all new recruitments by the electoral body.
According to the Ministry, IEBC had not obtained the relevant approval for the exercise as per a circular issued earlier from the government.
"Considering the tight budgetary framework underpinning the FY 2018/19 and the medium term budget and the fact that the general elections are over we recommend the IEBC to carry out the job evaluation to determine the workload of new positions first.
[caption caption="Treasury PS Kamau Thuge"]
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“IEBC should also review the current organization structure after carrying out a job evaluation with a view of having lean permanent staff and explore the possibility of hiring temporary staff when necessary, especially during general elections," read part of the letter.
Earlier in April, the commission advertised the positions of three directors (Human Resource, Legal Affairs and Procurement).
The announcement came days after the CEO Ezra Chiloba was sent on compulsory leave by Chairman Wafula Chebukati to pave way for investigations be carried out.
In an interview with Kenyans.co.ke, Chiloba maintained that he was not planning to throw in the towel and resign from the commission.
"That is not true. I am even shocked because I have no plans of resigning from the commission," the IEBC CEO stated.
Chebukati suspended him because of procurement issues, a decision that left the electoral body sharply divided.
[caption caption="Ezra Chiloba and Hussein Marjan"]
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IEBC commissioners who resigned cited lack of faith in Chebukati, with Paul Kurgat terming as “unprocedural” the suspension of Chiloba.
Chiloba moved to court to block his forced leave and asked the courts to grant him temporary orders to allow him to resume work.
