Outgoing electoral commission ICT director James Muhati is headed to Huduma Kenya as the chief executive officer, the Star has established.
Muhati resigned last week from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission where he was in charge of the Information and Communication Technology docket.
He is said to have turned down a fresh contract.
Muhati took over from the late Chris Musando in 2017 - days to the contentious general elections.
His five-year term was to end in May, but he is said to have opted to leave early. The Wafula Chebukati-led commission has appointed business systems manager Silas Njeru to act in the post.
Muhati takes over the Huduma Centre position from Denis Mutuku.
The Huduma Kenya Programme is a Vision 2030 flagship project of the national government.
The initiative was launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2013 as a public service delivery pet project under the Jubilee administration's strategy to reform access to government service.
Muhati becomes the second high-ranking IEBC official to land a lucrative post in government after ex-deputy CEO Betty Sungura was last year appointed Gender and Equality Commission chief executive.
Muhati emerged top in the recruitment interviews conducted by the State Department of Public Service following the advertisement of the position in November last year.
"The appointment will be made in a couple of days," a source at the Ministry of Public Service said.
The ICT expert was in trouble after the 2017 polls when opposition leaders accused him and ex-CEO Ezra Chiloba of bungling the presidential elections.
He was railed by the opposition for declining to open the election transmission servers even after the Supreme Court ordered that they be allowed access to the back-end section.
Muhati was known for his frosty relationship with Chebukati. He had been suspended before the 2017 general elections but recalled after the murder of Musando.
Four directors whose terms are coming to an end at IEBC have sought extensions including acting CEO Hussein Marjan who is substantively the deputy CEO.
Others are Audit Risk and Compliance director Osman Hassan Ibrahim and Voter Registration and Electoral Operations director Rasi Masudi.
The process of hiring the CEO to replace Chiloba is yet to be completed following court orders.
Edited by R.Wamochie
