NAIROBI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's electoral body was on Monday thrown into turmoil after three commissioners resigned, citing loss of confidence in the chairman.
The trio, Vice-Chairman Consolata Nkatha, Commissioners Paul Kurgat and Margaret Mwachanya, told a hurriedly-convened press conference in Nairobi that for far too long and way too many times Wafula Chebukati, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman, has failed to be the steady and stable hand that steers the ship in difficult times and gives directions when needed.
"Instead, under his leadership, the commission boardroom has become a venue for peddling misinformation that brewed mistrust, became a space for scrambling for and chasing individual glory and merit," Mwachanya said.
"Under the current commission leadership, we have had many instances where statements have been issued purporting to give a position of the commission, yet those statements are a misrepresentation of facts," they said, adding that the events in the last 10 days are a clear manifestation of the dysfunction.
The commissioners were referring to the suspension of Ezra Chiloba, the commission CEO, over "procurement issues" and "misappropriation of funds" during the last general elections that the IEBC chairman wants investigated while Chiloba is away.
It is not immediately clear what the procurement malpractices are, although Chebukati has previously raised questions regarding a number of technology-related procurements.
The commissioners' resignation leaves in office three other commissioners after Roselyn Akombe resigned in October last year saying she feared for her safety and that the IEBC as then constituted could not hold credible repeat elections.
Experts said the effect of the latest move will destabilize the commission at a time it is preparing to conduct electoral boundaries review for the 2022 election, whereas Chiloba's absence will make it difficult or impossible for the secretariat to operate because the CEO by law makes the day-to-day decisions which no other commissioner can.
The officers said whereas the commission is supposed to function as a single unit, Chebukati has created an "us versus them," "Commissioners versus Secretariat," and "Chair versus CEO" situation, reiterating that in their view a failure by any part of a unit of the organization is a failure of the entire commission.
The commissioners said they hope that their resignation will accord an opportunity to reflect on the future of the electoral body.
