Kenya election official found dead ahead of vote

AN official charged with overseeing IT in Kenya’s election commission was found dead just over a week before the country goes to the polls, the commission’s chairman said yesterday.

The body of Chris Msando, a top information technology manager at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), has been identified at the city morgue, according to IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati.

“There was no doubt he was tortured and murdered. The only question in our mind is who killed him and why he was killed a few days to elections,” Chebukati said.

In an earlier statement, Chebukati said Msando was last seen on Friday night and sent a text message to a colleague early on Saturday morning suggesting “that he was conscious and fully aware of his itinerary for that day”.

A mortuary employee said Msando’s body was brought in by police on Saturday, but the reason for the 48-hour delay between his body’s arrival and its identification by family members yesterday remains unclear.

The IEBC is administering Kenya’s August 8 election, which is expected to be a tight race between President Uhuru Kenyatta and longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Both sides have accused the other of underhanded tactics in the run-up to the polls, with the president saying Odinga is trying to divide the nation and provoke violence, and the opposition leader claiming Kenyatta plans to rig the poll.