Ezra Chiloba resigns!
Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Director General Ezra Chiloba has resigned amid claims of gross misconduct and abuse of office.
This was confirmed by the Board in a press release on Thursday that Chiloba resigned on Wednesday, October 18 in a letter to the board’s chairperson, Mary Mungai.
“On behalf of the Authority, I wish the outgoing Director General success in his future endeavours and appreciate his invaluable contribution to the organization and the wider ICT sector,” said the CA Board Chairperson.
Chiloba served as the CA Director General for two years, having been appointed in October 2021.
His resignation comes a month after an internal audit allegedly revealed significant losses in the CA scheme during his tenure.
As a result, he was suspended indefinitely for, among other things, allegations of abuse of office and conflict of interest.
On September 18, CA board chairperson suspended Chiloba over abuse of office and misuse of funds in the authority’s Sh662.4 million mortgage scheme.
He is accused of not only approving his own mortgage loan but also paying some Sh25 million to a company he is the sole director, which means he was both the buyer and seller, pointing to a conflict of interest.
The suspended director-general is also accused of clearing staff who exited the CA despite the team having unpaid loans totalling Sh28.9 million and understating loan balances for former employees, according to the findings of an audit report on the management of the staff mortgage scheme.
The probe found that the CA remitted Sh25 million to an account held at the Equity Bank in the name of Kitale Limited that a companies registry search revealed belongs to Chiloba as the only director.
In a letter dated October 2 and addressed to CA Board Chair Chiloba refuted the accusations as baseless and inaccurate while underscoring that all actions taken in relation to the management of the said mortgage scheme strictly adhered to relevant policies and guidelines.
“I wish to state that the allegations leveled against me, (Conflict of Interest, abuse of office, intent to defraud the authority, lack of professionalism and integrity and negligence of duty and failure to show due care are unfounded, incorrect and unjustified,” said Chiloba in the letter.
Chiloba was also suspended as the CEO of the Independent and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) before joining CA.