Roselyn Akombe raised issues she believed would have affected the October 26 vote with IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati days before her resignation, a leaked memo has revealed.
In the document, she cites acts of insubordination by the commission secretariat, critical decisions being voted down by the plenary, verbal attacks and physical threats.
Akombe, in the October 9 memo, says it appears the secretariat has deliberately decided to render a committee on elections preparation, that she chaired, dysfunctional.
She said such interference made her oversight role and that of two commissioners who are members obsolete.
The commissioner, who resigned from the polls body on Wednesday, raised concerns about IEBC decisions being controlled by the Secretariat and a majority vote at the plenary.
"Are there instructions to isolate some of us and make us irrelevant in the operations of the commission? Are there issues that are being safely kept away from us?" she asked Chebukati.
Akombe further states in the letter that she is of the view IEBC is run by four commissioners while the rest are onlookers yet all members are expected to take responsibility for the decisions reached.
"We cannot purport to be acting on behalf of the Kenyan people and in accordance with the constitution yet our decisions are shrouded in secrecy," she wrote.
She also highlighted a case on September 18 when a commissioner threatened to assault her physically.
"With well-orchestrated verbal attacks and accusations in virtually every plenary meeting, could one say that there is even free speech and tolerance for difference in views in our own boardroom?"
"It appears there's a deliberate plan to silence some of us from airing our views. In whose service is this?" Akombe asked.
Further to this, she raised issues with the chair on changes to the electoral process and personnel which were not heeded to despite the issues raised by the Supreme Court regarding the annulled August 8 election.
"I still find it unacceptable that we still have not asked tough questions and taken action on staff at the IEBC headquarters...we lost the Supreme Court case because of non-compliance with court orders regarding scrutiny of forms and opening of servers."
"Who was responsible for ensuring compliance with court orders? If we can take action against returning officers and their deputies, why can't we do the same for the Nairobi-based staff who have led to the loss of billions of shillings lost in the voided election," part of the memo reads?
On the formed to man the fresh vote, Akombe argued that nothing seems to have changed since they still take orders from the staff whose credibility has been questioned.
"All key issues related to this election ranging from technology to training are still being managed by the same headquarters staff...Is the project team under siege? Is it able to project leadership and build confidence in our preparation?" she asked.
Akombe raised issues with Chebukati on why changes to the staff have not been implemented despite agreements and concessions by political players taking part in the October 26 vote.
"How can we build confidence in political actors when we cannot keep our commitments? Frankly, what is so difficult in asking a few staff to step aside even on annual leave as part of confidence-building measures to establish a conducive environment for elections?" she asked.
Akombe further raised concerns that despite the commission approving an audit of the ICT system used for the August poll for the fresh vote, the process did not commence.
"Are these deliberate delays? Stalling like what happened on August 28 and August 29 on implementation of court orders on access to the servers? What would be the reason behind such delays? There are obviously many other decisions that we have lost track of…," she wrote.
However, Chebukati, in a statement to the press, said the polls will go on as scheduled but was quick to note that he cannot assure whether the process will result in a fair outcome.
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