Did you know the current Director General for the Communication Authority of Kenya Mr Ezra Chiloba at one time dropped out of school in form two?
Well, Chiloba, born in January 12, 1979 in Kwanza constituency, Trans Nzoia county, attended Mutua Primary School and sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in 1993 where scored 539 marks out of 700 marks.
He was admitted to the famous St. Joseph’s High School in Kitale, where he was unable to finish school due to financial constrains. He dropped out of school in form two for lack of school fees.
A while later, Chiloba was saved by the current Busia County Woman Representative Florence Mutua, who secured bursary aid for him and enrolled him at Kwanza Boys High School. Ms Mutua is Chiloba’s aunt.\
Read: Stephen Kiptinness Appointed Safaricom Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
He sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in Kwanza and scored a mean grade of A minus. He joined the University of Nairobi School of Law and graduated in 2003. Ezra also holds an MA in Public Policy from the Central European University.
He maintained a low profile while working for United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where he was responsible of mobilizing and managing project budgets.
Chiloba also served other organisations such as the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights, Centre for Minority Rights Development, South Consulting Africa and Oxfam Novib.
Read: IEBC And Posta Ink Multi-million Logistics Agreement
He also worked as the Deputy team leader in charge of governance under a DFID-DANIDA program managed by DAI.
The government plucked Chiloba from the programme to become the CEO for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ahead of the 2017 general elections.
This would mark the beginning of his public service, where he would be at loggerheads with the public, and ultimately his boss, the IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati.
Chiloba managed the 2017 General Elections, which were said to be marred with a lot of irregularities from the point of procurement to announcing results. In fact, the Presidential elections were nullified by the Supreme Court and a fresh elections ordered.
Read: Nicholas Bodo Appointed Kenya Civil Aviation Authority Acting Director-General
Mr Chiloba was forced to go on leave before the October 26, 2017 repeat presidential election.
Then in April 2018, he was sent on compulsory leave to pave way for audit of the procurement for election materials.
Mr Chiloba was sacked from IEBC in October 2018, after failing to appear before the commission’s disciplinary committee.
“I received the employment termination letter signed by the chairman about an hour ago. The letter claims that I had twice been invited to appear before the disciplinary committee of the commission, but failed to show up, hence the decision to terminate my employment,” Mr Chiloba said.
In September 2021, the Board of the Communications Authority of Kenya announced the appointment of Mr Ezra Chiloba Simiyu to the position of the Director General of the Authority for a renewable period of four years.
Read: Scope Markets Kenya Appoints New CEO And Chief Financial Officer
