Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati has divulged that the commission's suspended CEO Ezra Chiloba will not be allowed back to office unless he is cleared by the ongoing audit.
Speaking before Senate's Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee, Mr Chebukati noted that the ongoing comprehensive audit report has to be concluded before Mr Chiloba gets back to work.
The Committee's Chairperson Samson Cherargei also asked IEBC Chair what the commission would do if the three-month suspension elapsed before deciding on the contents of the audit and the fate of Chiloba.
In his response, Chebukati exclaimed: "The CEO has to report to the chair when he gets back. We shall have had the audit report that will determine his fate."
[caption caption="File image of IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati"]
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Additionally, he regretted that the matter surrounding Chiloba's suspension was misreported to insinuate that it 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," Chebukati divulged in a statement he read to the Senate Committee.
Although this is not the first time Chebukati had sent Chiloba on leave as it also happened before the repeat presidential election of October 26, his second suspension was met with more controversy.
The move has been marred by disputes with reports indicating that two of the commissioners disputed the move an action supported by two others.
However, Chiloba's application for the Labour Court's intervention to lift his suspension was denied early last month.
Mr Chiloba was sent on a three-month compulsory leave to allow investigations into the Ksh3.8 Billion contract for a company that supplied technology to IEBC.
[caption caption="File image of IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba"]
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