People carry the body of Chris Musando, deputy ICT director of Independence Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC), onto a car in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, July 31,2017. Kenya's electoral poll senior manager in charge of ICT who has been missing since Friday evening was found dead in Nairobi on Monday. (Xinhua/John Okoyo)
by Chris Mgidu
NAIROBI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's electoral poll senior manager in charge of ICT who has been missing since Friday evening was found dead in Nairobi on Monday.
Police said the body of Chris Musando, deputy ICT director of Independence Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) and that of an unidentified woman were found in Kiambu County (within the Nairobi metropolitan region) and taken to a city morgue.
The police had earlier ruled out foul play after his vehicle was found parked in Roysambu, Nairobi. Musando was one of the few people with knowledge on the location of IEBC servers.
His death comes after he had reported to the police about death threats on him by unknown person.
The electoral body said on Sunday that the last communication the commission received from Chris Musando is an SMS text sent to his colleagues at around 3 am on Saturday morning.
"The content of the text suggests that he was conscious and fully aware of its itinerary for that day," IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said on Sunday.
Musando was one of the few staff at the commission with knowledge of where the ICT servers are kept. The family reported the matter to the police saying they could not trace him since Saturday dawn.
The incident is a big blow to IEBC as Musando was to lead a dry run program on Monday to demonstrate how transmission of results would be done. It also comes a week to the elections.
The electoral body has since put off the dry run of results transmission system following the sudden death of its ICT manager.
Musando had been on a local television station for a show where he highlighted on their plans to deliver credible polls.
The family said his mobile phones were not reachable since Saturday when he curiously sent a message to his wife saying he was well in the city centre.
No arrest has been made since. Musando had three different mobile lines because of the persistent threats. Police said they are also puzzled with the incident and an investigation had been launched.
The latest incident comes after the electoral body sent home its ICT director in May over claims of sabotage.
Director for ICT James Muhati was sent on a compulsory leave by the commission following accusations that he had refused to cooperate in an ongoing audit of ICT systems. Muhati was later reinstated.
