Internal conflicts among certain board members and top managers at the Communication Authority (CA)  have escalated, persisting even after the dramatic suspension of the former Director-General Ezra Chiloba, three weeks ago. As investigations continue into Chiloba’s alleged abuse of the Authority’s mortgage scheme, which was cited as the reason that led to his suspension, sources have revealed a tense working environment at the Waiyaki way-based organisation, which has caused unease among some members of the management team.

The cold war within the organisation has escalated, as certain high-ranking members of the management, previously aligned with the ousted director-general, are now plotting to undermine the Board Chairperson, Ms. Mary Wambui Mungai. It is believed that Ms. Mungai played a pivotal role in the suspension of Chiloba. Sources have revealed that some of these members of the management are behind the onslaught lodged by an NGO, Commission for Human Rights and Justice, who are probing the academic credentials of Mungai. 

Mungai appears to have given ammunition to her detractors at the Authority through an old CV that she had produced, claiming to be a holder of a Bachelor of Science: Business Administration “Upper Second Class” degree from Kenya Methodist University, which she claimed to have acquired in 2005. The NGO has now moved in to claim the authenticity of these academic claims and through documents in our possession, its executive director has written to the university to enquire if indeed Mungai undertook the course there. 

“The aforementioned claims to have undertaken this course between 2005 to 2008 in your esteemed institution, claims which some members of the public claim to be nothing short of fluttery words to win the confidence of the office she holds,” states the letter from the NGO’s executive director to the University’s Vice Chancellor, Academic and Research Affairs. 

It further adds: “As the Commission obligated to inquire about the status and capacity of leaders to be entrusted to hold such position of authority, in light of the foregoing, we, therefore, implore your good office to confirm if indeed the above subject matter was a student there”. 

Through the letter marked urgent, the NGO is asking to be furnished with the examination transcripts and the graduation booklet to satisfy their investigation. They have also attached a copy of Mungai’s CV where she claims to have studied at the university. Sources now reveal that this onslaught is the work of a section of senior management staff who were allied to Chiloba. 

Sources have revealed that from the first day he met Chiloba during the inaugural board meeting, she vowed to ensure his exit from the Authority, with the probe conducted by the Board Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (BARAC) which unearthed alleged gross abuse of the mortgage scheme, only providing the perfect ground for the ouster of Chiloba. It is important to note that this committee is constituted by the Board, and sources at CA claim it could have been manipulated by Mungai to achieve her ends. Informants at the Authority claim that the others who suffered the same fate as Chiloba were but collateral so that the exercise may not appear as a witch hunt. 

It is not clear why Mungai, a close ally of President Ruto and one of his key financiers during the 2022 election campaigns, wanted Chiloba kicked out of the institution. However, in what gives an indication of a sharp divide at the Authority, those in support of Chiloba’s suspension say he had continued abusing the scheme with reckless abandon, taking over from where his predecessors had left off.

A source in this group of thought revealed how the mortgage scheme has been abused over the years, a trend that Chiloba continued with when he joined the Authority, thus granting the Board the ground to oust him.