Ezra Chiloba, the suspended Director General of the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA), has resigned.
On Wednesday, he resigned in a letter to CA board of directors chairperson Mary Mungai.
Mungai praised Chiloba for his exceptional service to the authority and the ICT sector in a notification issued on Thursday.
“On behalf of the authority I wish the outgoing director general success in his future endeavour and appreciate his invaluable contribution to the organization and the wider ICT sector,” she said.
Chiloba served as the DG since 2021, after taking over from Francis Wangusi following his retirement.
In September, Chiloba was suspended following an internal audit that accused him of financial impropriety
He however denied the accusations.
According to the audit, Chiloba and nine other top officials at the authority allegedly mishandled mortgages and allowances running into millions of shillings.
The Special Board Audit and Risk Committee (BARAC) Meeting held on August 8 detailed mismanagement allegations against Chiloba.
According to the report, Chiloba and his management team at the authority oversaw the refinancing of mortgages to the tune of Sh364.8 million for staff who lacked evidence of the upgrades or improvements for their purchased or construction houses.
The report had a case where Chiloba was alleged to have used his office to approve a mortgage for himself, pointing to abuse of power, which the board says is an offence under Sections 41 and 42 of the Anti-Corruption.
It is alleged that Chiloba applied and self-approved a mortgage loan to facilitate the purchase of property between himself and Jacob Simiyu Wakhungu, without subjecting the details of the transaction to interrogation and approval by a higher authority.
The report stated that he purchased a house and a seven-acre piece of land, a number beyond the required one-acre limit in violation of the civil servants housing scheme requirement.
The report showed that the loan application was approved by a junior staff member and there is no evidence to support the fact that the junior staff member carried out requisite due diligence and advice management including but not limited to the relationship between the seller and the buyer and the size of the property.
The former DG was said to have received Sh25 million disbursed to an account number 0180281053527 held at Equity Bank in the name of Kitale Hilmost Limited.
However, according to the report, interrogation to confirm the identity of the seller at the Companies Registry established the sole director and shareholder of Kitale Hilmost Ltd as Ezra Chiloba Simiyu, who is also the buyer.
The value of the said property, the report states was inflated by 64 per cent, with the audit report putting its actual value at Sh16.7 million.
The audit further revealed that there was about a 20 per cent variance in the valuation of the whole scheme between government valuers and privately contracted valuers. This was on the valuation of construction material.
Given the magnitude of variance, it was noted that the private valuation process was unprocedural and intent was dishonesty.
“Under the Anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Act, Sections 42 and 48, the report seeks that disciplinary measures and recovery of lost assets be undertaken,” the report read.
