IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said the decision to send the CEO on compulsory leave would enable the commission to undertake a comprehensive audit of all the major procurements that related to the 2017 polls.
Mr Chebukati argued that investigation can go either way and “it would therefore beat logic to have an employee be heard over issues that are not yet known”.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati has defended the suspension of the agency’s CEO Ezra Chiloba and termed his legal suit a breach of his contract.
In reply to a case filed by Mr Chiloba, Mr Chebukati said the decision to send the CEO on compulsory leave would enable the commission to undertake a comprehensive audit of all the major procurements that related to the 2017 General Election and later a repeat poll, which was held on October 26.
Mr Chebukati argued that investigation can go either way and “it would therefore beat logic to have an employee be heard over issues that are not yet known”.
He, therefore, wants the court to dismiss the suit where Mr Chiloba has accused Mr Chebukati for orchestrating his removal.
Mr Chiloba claims that he and Mr Chebukati have had differences on issues such as assignment of duties to staff, the procurement of voter kits and ballot papers.
But in reply filed through lawyer Tom Ojienda, Mr Chebukati has faulted Mr Chiloba for filing the case without seeking his approval.
He said that Mr Chiloba signed a contract that prohibits him from instituting legal proceedings against the IEBC while he is still employed, without the prior approval of the chairman.
Mr Chebukati has cited Clause 15 of his (Chiloba’s) employment letter, which states that he shall not voluntarily be a party to litigation of such nature as to be likely prejudicial to the interests of the Commission without the prior approval of the commission chairman.
“This petition is directly prejudicial to the commission as it seeks for prejudicial prayers against the commission. More importantly, there was no prior approval that was obtained from the IEBC Chairman before instituting this petition. This petition therefore ought to be struck out with costs,” he said.
Mr Chebukati has accused Mr Chiloba of using confidential information “obtained illegally” to institute the case in violation of his letter of employment, the Access to Information Act, Section 27 of the IEBC Act and the Constitution.
“To this end the applicants pray that the Honourable Court expunges from the record the IEBC confidential information obtained illegally by the petitioner as outlined in prayers 3-10 of this application,” he said in a sworn statement.
He revealed that the Commission, in the exercise of its oversight role, wrote an internal memo on January 16, 2018 to Mr Chiloba seeking clarifications on the various issues that had emerged from the tenders that had been issued and subsequently contracted by the IEBC.
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