Elections official Roselyn Akombe 'removed' from US flight

An Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official was being held at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Wednesday morning after being removed from a flight and her luggage offloaded.

The commissioner, Dr Roselyne Akombe, was en route to New York on Tuesday night when she was ordered out of her plane reportedly on instructions of State security.

HELD

Reports indicate that the commissioner was held at the airport until Wednesday morning but was allowed to depart in a Kenya Airways flight after 9am.

The IEBC confirmed that Dr Akombe had been blocked from travelling but appeared to downplay the incident, terming it a “delay”.

“Dr Akombe who is traveling to US for an official meeting. Was delayed at JKIA by officials who have since apologised. She returns on Sunday,” the commission said on its official Twitter account.

Sources, however, told the Nation that some State operatives feared that Dr Akombe, who reportedly holds both Kenyan and US passports, was fleeing Kenya.

“She was prevented from boarding. She was going to New York. Still at the airport,” a source at JKIA told the Nation.

DUTY

Reports indicate that it took the intervention of diplomats for her to be released from police custody and transferred to government pavilion at JKIA.

But late Wednesday, Dr Akombe, through IEBC, said she was deeply concerned at statements attributed to her on her departure, saying “they were completely false and unwarranted”.

She was referring to claims that she was fleeing the country.

“While it is unfortunate that my departure was delayed, I at no time indicated that I am fleeing my beloved Kenya due to questions raised on the credibility of our electoral process,” she said in a statement sent to newsrooms by IEBC Communications Manager Andrew Limo.

“I am on official duty to the United States and will return to continue working with my colleagues on the next stages of our electoral process.”