AS RECEIVED:
I work for the IEBC-Kenya.
I attended the commission’s retreat yesterday in Naivasha. The meeting was in the good spirit of ensuring that the forthcoming presidential election is done in a manner that satisfies every electorate. We deliberated on a number of issues among them, the Chebukati’s memo, in which he sought some clarifications with regards to the conduct of the members of the secretariat in the last poll.
I can unequivocally confirm to you the extent of robustness with which we discussed these issues. At some point, Ezra Chiloba, the commission’s CEO, whose name was grossly mentioned in the memo, threatened to jettison the meeting. This came at time when the discussion reached its peak ,with half of members demanding for his resignation or perhaps to be maintained but his powers curtailed. In other words, they wanted him to be regarded as a quasi member of the commission.
Mr. Chiloba had insisted on his stand of not resigning even after he fell guilty of the alleged irregularities.
The Chairman was of the opinion that the embattled CEO, be kept abay of the affairs of the commission before and after the comprehensive verdict of the court. Just before the meeting came to an end, the Chair received an emergency call. He excused himself and only came back after 30mins. When he finally walked in and resumed his seat, he whispered something to Chiloba that changed everything. In the final analysis, he made a very heartbreaking statement! He had a changed mindset. That the CEO will be maintained in the commission and that he shall oversee the operations of the commission in the October poll.
My concerns are quite clear:
1. As a patriotic citizen who want Peace for my country, the presence of Chiloba and his team, punctures into the credibility of this commission. He must be coerced into resignation.
2. The Al Ghurair Firm must not be awarded the tender. The tender of printing of ballot papers among other electoral materials should be awarded to a neutral firm.
3. The servers used in the last poll must be cleansed and made accessible to all parties. This will improve transparency of the entire process.
4. The media must be granted the opportunity to tally their own results. This did not happen in the last poll.
Kindly share this widely!
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