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Kenyan election official 'tortured and murdered' days before national vote Kenyan election official's death heightens fears of violence
(35 minutes later)
A senior Kenyan election official has been found dead with signs of torture three days after he went missing, prompting fears of potential disruption in national elections in August. Fears of electoral violence in Kenya rose on Monday after colleagues of a senior Kenyan election official found dead said he had been tortured and murdered.
The chairman of Kenya’s electoral commission said he had helped identify the body of Christopher Msando at the city morgue, adding that it appeared to be a murder because of injuries to his neck and head. The body of Chris Msando, the head of information, communication and technology at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the main body overseeing the polls, was found on the outskirts of Nairobi on Saturday but news of his death was released 48 hours later.
“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,” Wafula Chebukati, the electoral commission chairman, told reporters. The corpse of an unidentified woman was also found.
A mortuary employee said Msando’s body was brought in by police on Saturday alongside that of a woman. Both were naked and appeared to have been tortured before their bodies were dumped in a forest in Kiambu outside Nairobi. The apparent murders come nine days before voters in the east African state will choose a new president, as well as lawmakers and local representatives.
It was unclear why it took 48 hours for the body to be identified. Msando, who had a key role developing a new electronic ballot and voter registration systems at the IEBC, had been tortured before he died, election officials said.
Msando was the head of information, communication and technology for the electoral board, in charge of managing information technology systems. Local media reported Msando told police he had received death threats, before going missing last week.
Chebukati said he was crucial to the running of the vote scheduled for 8 August. Kenya will be using biometric technology to identify voters and electronic transmission of results, which reduces the chances of fraud. “There’s no doubt that he was tortured and murdered,” Wafula Chebukati, the chair of the IEBC, told reporters outside the city mortuary in Nairobi.
Msando’s death should be “urgently” investigated, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. The 8 August poll, which pits the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, 55, against veteran challenger Raila Odinga, 72, has turned out to be unexpectedly close.
“Msando’s killing comes as the electoral management body was due to audit its systems, a week away from the election day,” said Africa researcher Otsieno Namwaya. Kenyatta, who leads the Jubilee Alliance, is seeking a second and final five-year term.
The opposition alliance condemned the “heinous murder” of Msando, saying in a statement it was “gravely concerned” about its implications. 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.
“That no effort was made to camouflage this killing as an accident shows the determination of the killers to send a chilling message that they will stop at nothing to ensure the outcome they desire,” the statement said. Odinga says that fraud robbed him of victory in the last two elections. In 2013, electronic voting machines suffered widespread malfunctions, but a court dismissed Odinga’s complaints.
The opposition has accused the president, Uhuru Kenyatta, of wanting to rig the elections, which his office has denied. In 2007, Odinga called for street protests after tallying was abruptly stopped and a winner announced. The political protests and ethnic violence killed more than 1,200 people and displaced more than half a million.
Analysts have warned that violence could mar the vote, in which Kenyatta is running again. Msando had made frequent media appearances to reassure voters that new technology to be deployed in the coming election was reliable and proofed against fraud.
“The only issue is who killed him and why … I demand from the government that they provide security for all members of the IEBC for them to give Kenya free and fair elections,” said Chebukati.
Police were not available for comment.
Rashid Abdi, a regional analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that the killing of “someone who was involved in a critical component of the elections, the electronic infrastructure” would “definitely raise suspicions and undermine public confidence in the outcome” of the poll.
Human Rights Watch said Msando’s death should be urgently investigated.
Most analysts have said that the prospect of disorder on the scale of 2007 is remote, though some local clashes are to be expected during the campaign and after the results are declared.
The announcement of Msando’s death came days after an attacker killed a policeman outside the vice-president’s country home.
Kenya, east Africa’s largest economy, is experiencing drought, deep corruption, soaring inflation and high unemployment. There have been violent clashes between pastoralists and ranchers in the Laikipia region.
Early predictions were that Kenyatta would win easily, but more recent polls have indicated a tight race.
“It is not clear if the gap is actually narrowing, but … there is certainly a perception that the opposition has momentum,” said Nic Cheeseman, a professor of democracy at the University of Birmingham and an expert in African politics.
“They are hitting the government hard on corruption, rising inequality and rising cost of living. They have been connecting all three very well.”
Some analysts question the impact of economic factors, stressing that most Kenyans still vote along ethnic lines.