The IEBC has announced the appointment of Ezra Chiloba Simiyu as the new Commission Secretary. Simiyu will take over from scandal ridden James Oswago.
Simiyu has been working for a donor – funded programme, Drivers of Accountability Programme, as the deputy team leader. He will steer the commission through the 2017 general election.
“Following a thorough recruitment process the IEBC has today, 12 January 2015 appointed Mr Ezra Chiloba Simiyu as the Commission Secretary/CEO of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) having emerged as the most successful candidate in the interviews,†IEBC chairman Issack Hassan said in a statement
Simuyu is a governance specialist focusing on electoral processes and political management. He is also a former associate at Policy House, a public policy and strategy group. He holds an MA degree in Public Policy from the Central European University.
He is currently pursuing his PhD in political science at the University of Nairobi; his research focusing on electoral institutions and democratisation. Professionally, Chiloba has acquired 10 years of experience in the democratic governance field.
As a governance policy specialist, he has a bias for elections, constitutional development, human rights and public sector management.
Until December 2013, he worked as the democratic governance programme analyst with the UNDP Kenya for about five years where he oversaw a programme on electoral reforms and processes in Kenya. Other organisations he has worked for include: Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, Oxfam Novib, South Consulting Africa (Kenya National Dialogue Monitoring Project).
His first task will be to conduct the Homa Bay senate by election and Kajiado Central by election in February and March 2015 respectively.