Former workers of poll agency get government jobs

Former IEBC chair Isaack Hassan. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials have landed senior government positions in the recent appointments.

The Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani appointed IEBC’s former Director - Human Resources and Administration, Sellestina Kiuluku as the chair of the Board of Local Authorities Provident Fund for a period of three years.

Yattani also appointed two former IEBC commissioners, Muthoni Wangai and Mohammed Alawi Hussun. Wangai will chair the Board of Policy Holders Compensation Fund while Alawi was appointed member of the Board of the Kenya Railways Corporation, each for a period of three years.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Their appointment comes less than a fortnight after former IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba was appointed Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) Director-General.

Chiloba was among 20 people shortlisted for the job out of the 53 applicants. Only seven made it to the interview stage.

Former IEBC chair Isaack Hassan has also been re-appointed as the chair of Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) for another three years. Hassan has chaired KIPI since September 2018.

Pushed to the wall by public pressure, Hassan and his team resigned and took home Sh315 million send-off package one year to the end of their tenure.

Former Constitutional Court justice Johann Kriegler (L) with Isaack Hassan after a stakeholder meeting in Nairobi, 2013. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Even though he was exonerated, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) found criminal culpability on the part of four of his commissioners.

The new appointments published in the Kenya Gazette 2021 lift the lid on how State offices recycle individuals who have already served previously in different government offices.