IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has announced the appointment of three key directors.
Ruth Kulundu, who was the Commission’s Manager for Elections in Siaya County, becomes the Deputy Commission Secretary in charge of Operations.
Crispine Otieno Owiye, who was the Commission’s Head of Investigations and Prosecution, has been promoted to the position of Director in charge of Legal and Public Affairs.
Michael Ouma has been appointed the Commission’s Director in charge of Information Communication and Technology (ICT).
Interviews for the three positions were conducted on Wednesday, March 9 and Thursday, March 11.
“The three successful candidates emerged as the most qualified and suitable for the positions,” IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said in a press statement on Friday, March 11.
Ruth Kulundu has 12 years’ experience in elections management. [Courtesy of IEBC]
Between 2010 and 2017, Ruth Kulundu served as IEBC’s regional coordinator for elections.
She was, thereafter, deployed to Siaya County as elections manager.
She has 12 years’ experience in elections management.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, both from the University of Nairobi.
The directors’ appointment comes two days after IEBC said Marjan Hussein Marjan scored highly in interviews to be named the Commission’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), succeeding Ezra Chiloba who exited the agency under a cloud of controversy in October 2018.
The vacancy for CEO post was advertised in December, 2021, attracting 511 applicants after calls for applications ended on January 21, 2022.
Out of the 511 interested applicants, only five were shortlisted and interviews conducted on March 8, 2022.
Marjan overcame competition from Electoral and Governance Expert Zephaniah Aura, Mombasa County IEBC boss Nancy Kariuki, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Director Joel Mabonga and management expert Dr George Michugu.
Marjan will head the IEBC Secretariat that manages the day to day running of the Commission.
The Commission has nine directorates and 17 departments.
Each directorate is headed by a director, while each department has a manager.
The secretariat is composed of the following: the CEO, who is the Secretary of the Secretariat, two deputy Commission secretaries, nine directors, 24 managers, 47 county election managers and 290 constituency election coordinators.