Chiloba sues IEBC boss Chebukati

Embattled IEBC Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba has moved to court to contest the decision by the commission Chairman Wafula Chebukati to send him on compulsory leave.

In a petition filed at the Labor and Employment Relation court, Chiloba has asked the court to intercede to arrest the violation of his constitutional freedoms and rights.

Chiloba says that the decision by Chebukati to send him home on compulsory leave;forced leave, is unconstitutional,malicious and did not follow any lawful procedure.

“The respondent’s conduct of sending me on compulsory leave for three months has the effect of unlawfully removing me from my employment and office for the said period of three months,” reads the petition

According to Chiloba, the option of compulsory leave is not envisaged in the Human Resource Manual and that the respondents could in any event not take any steps against him without giving him an opportunity to be heard.

Further, Chiloba claims that the memo dated 6th April did not specify the nature if his misconduct and consequences of the offence adding that Chebukati did not carry out any investigations that would form the basis of a charge that could culminate in the sort of decisions intended by the three commissioners.

The beleaguered CEO noted that the decision by Chebukati and the two commissioners to send him on compulsory leave did not comply either, with the disciplinary provisions set out in the IEBC Human resources manual.

Chiloba also argues that the internal memorandum dated 9th April 2018 does not set out any valid grounds for the purported decision to send me out on compulsory leave.

He says that the violations of his legal rights are causing him irreparable injury which is continuing and thereby compounding the deliberate breach of his fundamental constitutional rights and compounding him misery.

“As a result I have been subjected to untold psychological stress, mental anguish and my reputation unjustifiably tainted, “says Chiloba

The electoral CEO says that he is aggrieved by the impugned decision because it has created the erroneous impression that he is the subject of investigations or that my conduct as CEO in the procurement of material during the 2017 General and Fresh presidential elections, either expressly or by implication by way of innuendo.

The fact the Chebukati and the two commissioners intend to keep him out of his employment compounds these metal anguish.

While He Was on Leave

Chiloba notes that on 21st December last year, the chairman wrote to the acting CEO demanding for a report to be submitted to him before or on 5th January 2018 which was the date of his resumption of duty.

He continues to say that on 15th of January, Abdi Yakub Guliye, called him to the office and informed that while he was away on leave the chairman might have been trying to dig out some information about him without some commissioners knowledge.

“The 3rd respondent informed me that that the chairman was determined to get him out, something that could adversely affect his career as a young professional,” said Chiloba

Chiloba claims that he was advised to take another long leave but he declined.

He says that he had a meeting with Chebukati (an out of office meeting) where they discussed the need for corporation .

IEBC sent Chiloba on a 3-month compulsory leave pending an audit into issues affecting the procurement department.

It was not immediately clear what procurement issues the commission is investigating or what impact the audit could have.

In a post on Twitter, IEBC said its board decided to send the chief executive on leave after a majority vote to expand the scope of an audit “on some procurement matters”.