A suspension has been issued to Ezra Chiloba, who served as the director-general or CEO of Kenya’s ICT authority, the Communications Authority (CA). The CA asserts that Chiloba engaged in fraudulent activities with the intention of defrauding the agency out of a total of KES 25 million ($170,000).
According to one section of the audit of the organisation, “As the accounting officer there was gross misconduct of the process to acquire a mortgage for himself as is demonstrated by disbursement of the loan of KES 25,000,000 to Kitale Hilmost Limited. A company search with the Business Registration Bureau revealed that the seller entity is owned entirely, as the sole shareholder and the sole director, by Ezra Chiloba Simiyu, the director general who is also the buyer in this case. This is reasonably construed to be demonstrative of an intent to defraud the Authority.”
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More on what the CA disclosed
The audit report from the Authority draws attention to the possibility of disciplinary action being taken against Chiloba for gross misconduct. This includes carelessness of duty, failure to undertake due diligence on transactions, and general wrongdoing in his office. These flaws included authorising his mortgage, overvaluing properties, and clearing staff without assessing mortgages; as a result, the CA was exposed to considerable financial risks. An audit revealed these issues.
“Disciplinary action on account of gross misconduct is contemplated as the audit indicates that the Director General has fundamentally breached his obligations arising under the contract of service,” the Authority remarked in a statement.
Chiloba was the CEO of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) before being selected as the CEO of CA two years ago. Chiloba has been in his current role for two years. As a result of this turn of events, Christopher Wambua has been given the responsibility of serving as director general, and he will remain in that post until further notice.
Chiloba took over for Mercy Wanjau, who had been filling the same post in an interim capacity following the departure of Francis Wangusi, who passed away. Chiloba has now completed the first two years of his four-year term. It is unclear at this time if he will be reinstated to his position as CEO of the Authority or whether his suspension will be made permanent.
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Previous regulations by CA
Before his suspension, Chiloba was involved in the regulation of Worldcoin by the Authority a few weeks ago.
The Authority had recommended the establishment of regulatory sandboxes in order to monitor emerging technologies such as digital currency. The request was made by the Authority as WorldCoin’s approval to collect biometric information from Kenyans was coming under increased scrutiny. By providing a token worth KES 7,000 (about $50), Tools for Humanity, the organisation that currently owns WorldCoin, was able to obtain vital biometric data.
“There is a need to develop an appropriate overarching legal framework for regulation on new and emerging technologies, including digital platforms, social media, and Over-the-Top services,” said Ezra Chiloba at the time.
In the previous month, it came to light that WorldCoin had been registered as a data processor in Kenya, which brought to light the shortcomings of the legislation that is already in place. Iris scanning machines were able to be used to enrol Kenyans on Tools for Humanity’s platform thanks to the authorization granted by the licence.
When it became obvious that these actions were not entirely compatible with data privacy rules, Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), together with other agencies, stated that WorldCoin’s licence did not offer any permission to collect personal data. This argument was based on the fact that the licence did not grant any right to collect personal data.