The Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (I.E.B.C) woes are far from over if the judgement happenings of the court are a thing to go by. The court is said to have barred the commission from getting a new CEO.
Labor Court in Nairobi has temporarily blocked IEBC from recruiting a person to replace former Chief Executive Officer Ezra Chiloba.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa gave the orders in a case challenging the commission’s decision requiring all applicants to get clearance from among other agencies, the National Intelligence Services ( NIS).
The judge observed that IEBC’s advertisement calling for applications contained more requirements than what is provided in its employment law.
“On the face of it, it appears that the advertisement need to be subjected to the test by this court before the process continues,” the judge ruled yesterday.
The petition was filed by a man named Henry Mutundu. According to the man, the requirements set by IEBC were unfair and against the law.He said that IEBC wanted a person who has had 15 experience, as against the set threshold of five years.
Mutundu also claimed that another requirement for applicants to seek clearance from security agencies amounted to incriminating applicants before they are tried before a court of law. According to the man, information held by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and NIS cannot be used to determine whether one was clean or unclean for the top job.
“ Security clearance by the DCI is unconstitutional and not supported by any law and there is no legal certificate that is granted to the affected persons,” he argued.
IEBC went ahead to look for Chiloba’s replacement after a dramatic sack which revolved court cases. Chiloba had first sued IEBC after his suspension last year over the 2017 election.
However, the response of IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati blamed Chiloba for massive flaws that occurred during the election.
“The commission realised there was a need to expand the audit into the procurement of 2017 election materials and a majority of commissioners resolved to send him home. He is lying when he says we lacked quorum to suspend him,” said Chebukati.
Even after the case was ongoing, on October 13, 2018, he was fired for allegedly snubbing disciplinary proceedings twice. Chiloba had objected to appearing before the committee, insisting on being given access to defence documentation left in his office following his suspension.
The dismissal letter said Chiloba had twice been invited to appear before the disciplinary committee of the commission “but I failed to show up; hence the decision to terminate his employment”.
But Chiloba replied that in the first summon, he was away attending classes at the University of Oxford, where he is pursuing a masters in major programme management.He also complained that the same three commissioners who voted to send him away were the same members of the disciplinary committee.