Kenya's EC in hot water over failures 'admitted' in leaked internal memo

A leaked internal memo allegedly from the chairman of Kenya’s electoral commission Wafula Chebukati to the CEO Ezra Chiloba demanding explanation to some failures during the elections has further deepened the divide within the body.

The memo, leaked to the media on Thursday, contained twelve points demanding explanation over issues including the reason why some election result forms lacked security features, the purchase of satellite phones that never worked.

Also, it demanded explanation on how an account created in Chebukati’s name was used to log into the elections management system 9,934 times and why 595 polling stations failed to send results of the presidential election to the national tallying centre, among other issues.

Internal memo from IEBC Chairman W. Chebukati to CEO E. Chiloba, who is accused of working with Jubilee to steal the elections. pic.twitter.com/3dN8PxAcRB

— Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@C_NyaKundiH) September 7, 2017

Five members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) excluding the Chairperson Chebukati responded to the leak on Thursday evening in a press statement saying the contents of the memo were not sanctioned.

“We wish to clarify that the contents of the said memo were not discussed and sanctioned by the Commission Plenary. The Commissioners came to know of the memo through the media like everyone else,” said the statement signed by Vice Chairperson Consalata Nkatha Maina and four other commissioners.

“Most of the issues raised are not factual and could easily mislead if taken out of context. However, the Secretariat is reviewing the issues and will prepare appropriate responses to be presented to the Commission Plenary,” it added.

The alleged memo from the Commission: here are the facts pic.twitter.com/lyEl99cylr

— IEBC (@IEBCKenya) September 7, 2017

Other commissioners have sided with the statement from the five officials except one Roselyn Akombe who supported the leaked memo, local media Daily Nation reports.

The new development follows Tuesday’s appointment of a new project coordinator and other officials to run the information technology, logistics, operations and training as well as the national tallying centre during the re-run.