Water Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome is on the spot after she irregularly appointed a senior electoral body officer to a state agency.
Ms. Wahome, in a gazette notice dated Friday, June 2, 2023, appointed Joyce Narumbe Ekuam to the board of North Rift Valley Water Works Agency.
However, under the law, civil servants and state officers are barred from being appointed as independent directors to any parastatal.
Ekuam is currently working at IEBC as a Manager of Partnerships.
It is not clear if the appointment was erroneous or was deliberately done in spite of the legal and political implications.
The development raises questions on the role some IEBC officials played in the election of President William Ruto last year following what is seen as a reward with state jobs.
Already former chairman Wafula Chebukati’s wife Mary has been nominated to chair the Commission on Revenue
Allocation (CRA) after she missed out on the position of PS that she had early been shortlisted for.
Former Commissioner Boya Molu also applied for the PS position but was left out.
He is likely to be given a board appointment or ambassadorial job according to insiders.
Opposition leaders have often accused IEBC of complacency in last year’s election and this development is likely to add more fuel to the fire.
Already lawyer Otiende Amollo who co-chairs the Bipartisan Dialogue Team has gone to his Twitter to question the appointment.
This attracted a series of reactions from readers.
