The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has issued a new statement after reports emerged that five officials were sacked.

In a statement through their official twitter account, the Electoral Commission said that the sacking reports were false and that the officials were assigned new duties and that officials on leave were utilizing their leave days.

“The staff working at the CEO’s office have not been sent on leave. They were assigned new duties or if they took leave, they did so on their own volition, utilizing their leave days,” read the IEBC statement.

The statement follows media reports that five more employees who worked under embattled CEO Ezra Chiloba had been sent home on Thursday in unclear circumstances with a verbal notice, allegedly from the acting Chief Executive Marjan Hussein.