Chiloba excluded again in new presidential poll team

Electoral commission chairman Wafula Chebukati has unveiled a new project team that will be in charge of the repeat presidential election set for October 26.

In the new seven-member team, Chebukati has pushed aside three Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission officials and still left out the chief executive officer, Ezra Chiloba.

Addressing the press on Friday, Chebukati noted that the new team would not include officers accused of bungling the August 8 presidential election which was nullified by the Supreme Court on September 1.

Pushed aside along with Chiloba are Nancy Kariuki, Bernard Moseti and Silas Rotich who had previously been included in the new presidential election team selected by the electoral commission chairman, Wafula Chebukati.

Kariuki, Moseti and Rotich will now serve as election coordinators in three counties.

Chiloba will retain his role as the chief accounting officer and will exercise a facilitation role of ensuring the project team has access to resources and finances to ensure a smooth electoral process.

Marjan Hussein Marjan, who is Chiloba’s deputy, has been retained at the project team leader while David Towett will head operations with Salome Oyugi as the head of legal and compliance.

Sydney Namulungu will be in charge of the tallying centres while Tabitha Mutemi will spearhead the commission’s communication and outreach docket.

Albert Gogo will be the election technology lead while Agatha Wahome will handle the finance and procurement.

Chebukati was speaking at Safari Park Hotel on Friday after launching a training workshop for all 290 returning officers who will take part in the repeat poll on October 26.

The IEBC Chairman said the changes were part of his promise that he would carry out reforms to ensure a smooth running of the upcoming election.

Last month, Chebukati had unveiled a six-member project team that he said would oversee the October poll in which Chiloba had also been excluded from the team.