IEBC Commissioner Dr Roselyne Akombe at a past event. [Photo|Capital FM Kenya]
Commissioner Dr Roselyne Akombe, of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), could soon be leaving the electoral body.
Reports indicate Akombe could leave for the United Nations, where she worked for 15 years, before taking unpaid leave to work with the 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 told a UN press briefing on Thursday, according to the Daily Nation.
Haq said Akombe's space was still intact at the UN, where she is still an employee of the UN.
She is likely to leave the Wafula Chebukati-led Commission, before completion of the six-year-term.“Ms Akombe, at some point, will re-join the Department of Political Affairs, and then she’ll be a UN staffer,” Haq added.
Akombe took oath of office, January 22, 2017, alongside her fellow commissioners, and has been proactive in running IEBC affairs, before and during the August 8 polls.
On Tuesday August 15, evening, she was blocked from boarding a plane at JKIA, to the US, by airport officers, on claims that she did not have required documentation from the Head of Public Service Francis Kinyua, to leave the country.
Social media users claimed she was fleeing the country, over the disputed presidential election, but she dismised, saying she was out of the country for official duties.
IEBC said she would return Sunday August 20.
In response, Daily Nation reported that Akombe was non-committal on whether or not she would go back to the UN before the end of the six-year-term, saying her mind was focused on the IEBC job for now, through a text message.