IEBC Commissioner returns to Kenya after Drama at JKIA

dennis kibet

August 24, 2017 4:11 AM

There were claims that the commissioner had fled the country due to credibility of the elections.

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner Roselyne Akombe has returned to the country amid speculations that she had fled the Kenya.

Akombe was last week temporarily barred from boarding her flight to the United States at the Jommo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) by officials over what they termed as her lack of clearance to travel.

She was delayed for some hours before the intervention of the US embassy and government officials who finally allowed her travel.

The incident sparked off rumours that Akombe had fled the country due to questions raised on the credibility of the just concluded electoral process which declared Uhuru Kenyatta President-elect following the August 8 elections.

NASA led by their leader Raila Odinga disputed the results and has challenged Kenyatta’s win at the Supreme Court.

Akombe later in a statement dismissed the claims circulating on social media following her delayed flight in Nairobi as false and unwarranted.

“I am on official duty to the United States and will return to continue working with my colleagues on the next stages of our electoral process,” she said.

The United Nations had said that Akombe will “fairly soon” return to the global organisation, further fuelling speculation about her future at the elections body.

Akombe worked at the UN for 15 years there before taking unpaid leave to come to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

“I am aware that she was on a leave of absence. At some point, I believe, fairly soon, it will be expiring and then she will return to her duties in the Department of Political Affairs,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq was quoted at a press briefing last week.

dennis kibet