Roselyn Akombe Returns To Kenya From Self Exile

By Sally Lizwa

Former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner Dr. Roselyn Akombe has come back to Kenya after going into self-exile at the height of the 2017 presidential elections claiming that her life was in danger.

Akombe took to Twitter to announce her arrival with Kenyans welcoming her but others calling her out for “being a coward” who ran away when the country needed her the most.

Nothing beats the feeling of being home #Kenya, where my umbilical cord remains. Thanks a million to all who made it possible. I owe you a lot! pic.twitter.com/J1JBcWpon6

— Dr. Roselyn Akombe (@DrRoselynAkombe) February 16, 2021

Speaking from the US in a previous interview, Dr. Roselyn Akombe told the BBC’S Newsday after taking off from Kenya that she had received numerous threats and that she “didn’t feel safe” being in Kenya. Despite being in Kenya, Akombe is at the United Nations offices, perhaps still “fearing for her life.”

Akombe has been vocal through her Twitter handle claiming that she knows the people who killed Mr. Chris Msando, an IEBC official who had access to all the electronic transmission of election results. Kenyans have however been calling her out for being a hypocrite using the name of Msando to gain political mileage without naming those she claims knows killed him.

Dr. Roselyn Akombe currently is the Governance and Peacebuilding Regional Coordinator at UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with additional offices in Dakar, Senegal, and Nairobi, Kenya, and serving  45 Country Offices.

She previously served as the Chief of Policy at the Policy and Mediation Division, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs at the United Nations in New York.

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About the author

Lizwa Sally is a journalist and a storyteller. She believes that writing is the silent spoken feeling that comes out just when you need it and I’m all about that. Engaging you in writing that not only entertains and educates you but also resonates with you.