The Communication Authority of Kenya’s Board has suspended its Director-General, Ezra Chiloba.
The announcement was made in an internal memo signed off by CA Board Chair, Mary Mungai.
Ezra Chiloba’s suspension is a result of a significant breach of financial management protocols within the Communication Authority.
According to the Board’s 9th Special Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Meeting held on August 8, 2023, Chiloba was suspended due to alleged mismanagement of the Staff Mortgage Scheme.
Why Ezra Chiloba was suspended
- Defaults amounting to Kes 28.9M for mortgages that were approved and granted without proper consideration of the contract term.
- Refinancing of mortgages to the tune of Kes 364.8M for staff members who lacked evidence of upgrades and/or improvements for their purchased and/or constructed houses.
- A material variance of more than 20% in property valuation between government and privately contracted valuers.
- Understatement of loan balances for former staff members of the Authority.
- Inadequate approvals of architectural plans/designs for construction mortgage facilities, thereby exposing the authority to potential abuse of the facility and financial risk.
- Failure to undertake timely mortgage insurance protection advances for properties.
“Being that the Director General is the Accounting Officer for the Authority, the conduct and integrity of the office holder when viewed against the provisions of Sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Leadership and Integrity Act is found to be in contravention of the same and in breach of the Code of Ethics which amounts to misconduct…”
In his place, Mr. Christopher Wambua has been appointed Acting Director General.
“Following a meeting of the Authority’s Board held on 18th September 2023, resulting in the suspension of the Director General, I am pleased to inform all staff of the appointment of Mr Christopher Wambua as a Director General in Acting Capacity effective today until further notice,” Ms Mungai stated in her memo to staff.
Mr Wambua has been serving as the Authority’s Director Of Communications And Public Affairs since 2015.
He had just returned to the CA headquarters in July from a secondment to the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), where he was appointed as the acting Chief Executive Officer in August 2021 following an investigation into corruption allegations against then-CEO, Ezekiel Mutua.
