Former commissioner of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Roselyn Akombe flew back into the country on Tuesday, February 16, three years after she relocated to the US.
"Nothing beats the feeling of being home where my umbilical cord remains. I appreciate everyone who made it possible. I owe you a lot!" said the former commissioner, as she shared photos of her at the United Nations (UN) Complex Avenue at Gigiri, Nairobi, on Twitter.
The former commissioner worked as the Chief of Policy at the Policy and Mediation Division, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs at the UN in New York.
On January 4, she said that she was heading to Ethiopia where she would join the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as the Governance and Peacebuilding Africa Coordinator.
Akombe was posted to the Regional Hub in Addis Ababa. Her new role is aligned with her passion for development, social justice and youth and women empowerment.
The policy and development expert moved to the US immediately after the highly contested 2017 election.
The Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory and ordered a re-run after ODM leader Raila Odinga won a petition in which he accused IEBC of election malpractice.
Akombe resigned before the re-run and fled to the US claiming that she and her family faced threats in Kenya. She added that she was also worried after the death of her colleague, former ICT Director Chris Msando who was murdered nine days to the August 2017 election.
She also claimed that IEBC was not in a position to conduct the re-run election. Akombe accused IEBC of incompetence and raised credibility questions about the commission.
The former student leader also alleged that IEBC commissioners aligned themselves with political parties adding that Chairperson Wafula Chebukati was under immense pressure from both political quarters.
While in the US, she claimed that she had dossiers on the Msando case and was willing to testify. Akombe, on Sunday, August 2, exposed an email allegedly sent to her by former IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba. The former commissioner claimed that Chiloba warned her against testifying.
"Do not attempt to rewrite history. Our silence is not your license," read a text email from a screenshot shared by Akombe on Twitter.
Throughout the three years she has been away, Akombe celebrated Msando's birthdays and also called on the investigative agencies to expedite the case.
