Former IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba appointed as Communication Authority Director General

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept  28- Former IEBC officer Ezra Chiloba was Tuesday appointed as the new Director-General(DG) for Communication Authority (CA) replacing former DG Francis Wangusi whose second and final term ended in 2019.

CA board chairperson Kembi Gatura, in a statement to newsrooms, said that Chiloba ‘s appointment follows a competitive recruitment process to fill the position left vacant with the retirement of the former DG.

Mercy Wanjau has held the position in an acting capacity since 2019.

” The appointment follows a competitive recruitment process to fill the position left vacant with the retirement of the former Director-General Francis Wangusi,” reads Gatura’s statement.

His contract will be renewable for a period of four years.

Before his appointment, Chiloba served as a member of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) board that was started to help create job opportunities for young people through entrepreneurship.

Prior to that, he was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), a position he held until 2018 when he was fired.

The commission noted it terminated Chiloba’s services after it found him culpable of charges which arose from internal audit reports on major procurement during the 2017 General Elections and the repeat Presidential Elections.

“Mr Chiloba’s gross misconduct, breach, and violations of the Commission’s Human Resource and Administration policies left the Commission with no option other than to terminate his employment,” IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said.

He, however, went to the Employment and Labour Court and was given a reprieve to return to work in June but he was suspended again hours after the court order.

Chiloba later complained through Twitter that the decision to terminate his contract with the electoral body was ‘pre-determined and that the disciplinary committee process was a ‘mere formality.’

In the post, in which he announced his sacking, the embattled  CEO  said he was fired after he refused to appear before the committee.

“My employment with the IEBC has officially been terminated. This does not come as a surprise to Kenyans who have been monitoring the events at the IEBC in the last six months” he said

“You appear to have already pre-determined the matter following reports that you have referred the matter to EACC and DPP, and you had already made a decision to dismiss me, but later rescinded it, which decision informed your re-assigning my official driver, terminating allowances due to security officers attached to me, and recalling of my official vehicles,” Chiloba added in the letter dated October 9, 2018.

Chebukati however, insists that Chiloba was accorded a fair hearing and was dismissed procedurally.

Chiloba is a policy consultant and Principle Partner with Chil and Kemp consultancy and an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.