Editor's Review

Akombe: Nothing beats the feeling of being home #Kenya, where my umbilical cord remains

Former IEBC commissioner Roselyn Akombe is back in the country after a three-year exile in the United States.

Akombe left the country in 2017 a few days before the repeat presidential election.

In her resignation letter, Akombe claimed that IEBC was under siege, adding that the commission had been entangled in the political crisis in the country back then.


“It has become increasingly difficult to continue attending plenary meetings where Commissioners come ready to vote along partisan lines and not to discuss the merit of issues before them. It has become increasingly difficult to appear on television to defend positions I disagree with in the name of collective responsibility. I have concluded that I am no longer making any significant contribution to the Commission and to my country as a Commissioner.

“It is critical that all political actors and the Commission take a pause to review where we are leading this country. It is not too late to save our country from this crisis. We need just a few men and women of integrity to stand up and say that we cannot proceed with the election on 26 October 2017 as currently planned,” she said in a letter sent from the New York.


After three years away, she is back in the country. In photos shared on her social media handles, Akombe was at the United Nations offices in Nairobi.

It is not clear whether she'll be in the country for long.

"Nothing beats the feeling of being home #Kenya, where my umbilical cord remains. Thanks a million to all who made it possible. I owe you a lot!" she tweeted.