[Roselyne Akombe in a past event. She is American educated and used to work with UN before taking her job in IEBC. Photo/Nation]
For a day now, both local and international media has focused on Roselyn Akombe, an IEBC commissioner who resigned abruptly, leaving many questions on October poll credibility unanswered.
Born in 1976 at Nyamira County, Akombe holds a Master of Science in Global Affairs and a PhD in the same subject, both from the Rutgers University.
Until her appointment to the IEBC, she worked as an Under-Secretary at the United Nations headquarters in New York, a position she says enabled her to gain experience in electoral practices around the world.
But the IEBC job meant she was taking a pay cut of up to 70 per cent. Why would she do that? Dr Kwamboka explained that it was a sacrifice she took as a patriot willing to serve her country.
In fact, she took a sabbatical from the UN meaning she will not receive a penny from the UN during her term as commissioner at IEBC.
When the new team at the top of the IEBC took over in January, it was not quite clear who would become the face of the commission.
She got her Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Nairobi and then went to the United States, where she obtained her Masters and then her doctorate degrees at Rutgers University.
After she had left the UN for the job in the pressure cooker that is the IEBC in an election year, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, explained her departure in response to a question at the daily briefing on January 23.
An easy communicator with an impressive grasp of the electoral process, the 41-year-old has done virtually all studio interviews on behalf of the commission.
Her easy-going manner belied her ability to handle tense moments, such as the situation in Dubai two weeks before when a delegation she was leading with fellow commissioner Paul Kurgat ran into headwinds. A representative of the Thirdway Alliance in the delegation had sent back information to Kenya that had been incorrectly interpreted and created a near-storm.
In his statement to the nation, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati termed the resignation unfortunate adding that she will be missed by the country.