Ezra Chiloba, the CEO of IEBC, has opened up about the recent attention he has been receiving from Kenya’s womenfolk.
In a candid interview with Jackson Biko, Chiloba claims to ‘not have a life anymore’ and is forced to camouflage in public.
In the interview, Chiloba also denies reports that he has married in the Kenyatta family.
Below are some excerpts from the eye-opening interview.
You realise that things will never be quite the same again because there are people who hate you, people who love you and people who just want to have your babies…
(Laughs loudly) You know, I don’t have a life anymore. I have to camouflage a lot. I don’t think if you met me last week you’d recognise me. That’s changed now. I went for shopping at Galleria Mall and everyone just stares and stops. They want selfies and families call out and say, “Hey Chiloba come and say hello to my children!” Then I went to Yaya Centre and the same thing happened and I was like, oh my God, this is not nice. So my security guy was like, “CEO, I think next time just go home straight from the office.” But Kenyans being Kenyans, they’ll forget soon.
Is the attention by the womenfolk flattering or do you feel grossly objectified, do you feel like meat and is it an absolute outrage?
The question I keep asking myself is, “Where did that come from?” I’ve been in town for the last two and a half years and nobody has paid me a passing glance. (Chuckles) I’m not the type of guy who goes out searching for fame. I just focus on my job. This is some sort of brief national infatuation. On the flip side, it’s a good thing because it drew attention to elections with the younger demographic. They paid attention.
Talking of wife. There’s talk about town that you’ve married in the Kenyatta family.
(Laughs) Well, as much as it might be flattering it’s not true. I have no relations with the Kenyattas. You know when I was appointed, they said I was appointed because of Jomo Gecaga, a guy I’ve never met in my life. When the ballot paper thing came up, they said oh, it was Chiloba and Muhoho who fixed this stuff. Never met these guys in my life! Never met the president one-on-one. I saw pictures the other day of me and a lady in a wedding line-up who is supposedly my wife. That’s not my wife. I was in a wedding two years ago as the best man and the lady—an MP’s wife, was the best maid.
Are you satisfied with the process of the just concluded election, will your children one day look back and say their father presided over a solid and credible process, is your conscience clear?
I’m 200 per cent confident. I can tell you that maybe because of my upbringing, sticking to the rules is very important for me, so are my personal values. And at my age why would I want to mess up systems? I have children who I want to grow in a country that I can be proud of and this was an opportunity to try and demonstrate that the right things can be done. I remain undeterred by the propaganda flying around.
You lose friends, I’ve lost many. People look at me differently. My phone currently has over 5,000 unread messages ranging from the good to threats. But I can tell you this, if I were to do it again, I would do the same, same thing.
Do you secretly love your new nickname — Chilobae? You can be honest with me…
(Laughs loudly) Oh boy. Can I tell you something? Do you know what my private e-mail address has always been? It’s Chiloba with an “e” at the end. So I guess I have always been Chilobae.
Mr. Chiloba, you made us very proud! I watched the whole election voting week live from United States and I really respect your professionalism. You stood out and the way you presented yourself is just remarkable. You were very firm and meant business. We need more serious people to oversee things. Presenting yourself elegantly on live television earned you a lot of respect. Sometimes you just don’t know who is watching! With my American friends, we were very impressed by Chiloba!
Duck you both!
That’s life we only know our real friends during challenging moments. At times we need such moments to bring us to our destination. Anyway who can stand you their loss move on.