Two IEBC commissioners who resigned return to work

Two IEBC commissioners; Connie Maina and Margaret Mwachanya, who spectacularly resigned from the electoral commission in April are back in office.

The two, minus commissioner Paul Kurgat returned to their offices at Anniversary Towers in Nairobi on Friday, 14 days after the High Court in Nairobi invalidated their resignation saying that they failed to follow the proper procedures when they stepped down.

“The commissioners who had resigned are here for a meeting with the chairman after they wrote a letter requesting to meet him but he never responded. They haven’t met the chairman yet as he’s not around,” IEBC communication manager Andrew Limo said.

In his ruling, Justice Wilfrida Okwany indicated that the commissioners just tendered their resignation via a press statement instead of writing to the appointing authority.

While dismissing the case challenging the IEBC quorum, Justice Okwany said due to the above anomaly, the commissioners were still in office since they failed to render their resignation to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

During their resignation, they claimed that under Chebukati’s leadership the electoral agency’s boardroom had turned into “a venue for peddling money, misinformation and grounds for brewing mistrust.”

“The institution has continued to be dysfunctional with arbitrary decision making, leaking of internal documents to serve personal goals and pursuing of personal interests. All of which are against the laid down laws that govern the conduct of the commission leadership and staff,” they added.

They also faulted the manner in which decisions were being made at the commission including the move to send IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba on a three-month compulsory leave.

Additional reporting by Ruth Waweru