NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 26 – It was a sigh of relief for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ruth Kulundu after the Employment and Labor relations court on Thursday ruled that she was wrongfully interdicted by her boss, Chief Executive Officer Hussein Marjan.
In her ruling, Justice Linnet Ndolo said that Marjan breached IEBC’s human resource manual and acted as the judge, the jury and the executioner.
Justice Ndolo also observed that she arrived at the decision after carefully considering the balance of convenience in the matter, and opined that none of the respondents would suffer any prejudice.
“In the light of this, the verdict that the disciplinary process initiated against the petitioner was unlawful and that she would suffer irreparable harm if it is allowed to continue the balance of convenience tilts in the petitioners favor,” the court ruled.
IEBC CEO Marjan Hussein Marjan accused Kulundu of misconduct for arranging an illegal commission plenary meeting without approval.
In the meeting, the four commissioners who disputed the 2022 presidential election results picked law firms that would represent the commission in the consolidated presidential election petition.
Her interdiction however prompted the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya legislators to stage a peaceful march to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) offices in protest.
The lawmakers maintained that Kulundu was interdicted for being a whistleblower in the August 9 elections.
They further indicated that her interdiction was a witch-hunt choreographed by chairman Wafula Chebukati’s wing in the commission for having assisted the four dissenting IEBC commissioners.
