Protesters marched on the offices of Kenya’s election commission demanding a speedy investigation into the murder of a senior official raised fears over the legitimacy of next week’s national elections.
Chris Msando, the election board’s head of information, communication and technology, was found murdered on Monday. He was tortured before he was killed, authorities said.
Msando oversaw live transmission of election results, a contentious area the opposition said could be used to rig next Tuesday’s presidential and parliamentary polls.
The presidential race is close: opposition leader Raila Odinga is favoured by 49% of voters compared with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s 48%, according to a poll of 5,000 Kenyans across 47 counties by Infotrak Research and Consulting.
The close race, the murder and a history of malfunctions of election equipment have raised tensions in Kenya and provoked speculation on social media.
“It is important security agencies expedite investigations as a matter of utmost urgency,” John Githongo, a prominent anti-corruption campaigner, said during the march by about 25 protesters.
“The timing of his torture and murder serves to undermine Kenya’s election management body,” he added as the group sang and held up banners denouncing the killing.
Kenyatta issued a statement condemning the killing of Msando and Caro Ngumbu, a woman who had been shot in the head and whose body was found next to Msando’s. The relationship between them was unclear.
Kenyatta urged faith in investigators and for the public to refrain from speculation about the motives for the killings.
“Careless speculation in this time of grief only makes the work of investigators harder and it adds to the pain of those who loved him,” the president said, urging the country to remain united ahead of the vote.
“This is not the time to allow a tragedy such as this to divide us, to turn brother against brother.”
Authorities did not say where Msando’s body was found or suggest a motive. He had deep lacerations on his hands and arms and had been “unmistakably” tortured, an official at the commission told Reuters.
The opposition called for outside experts to help ensure the credibility of the elections.
“This murder has jeopardised Kenyans’ faith in the credibility of the electoral process,” Musalia Mudavadi, a key Odinga ally, told journalists.
“To restore the shaken confidence in electronic systems key to the credibility and the success of the election … the elections body should immediately secure the services of an internationally recognised expert in the area.”
Both the United States and Britain offered to help Kenya investigate the murder, without saying how.
Odinga said the last two elections were rigged. In 2013, he took his complaints to court and the elections were largely peaceful. But in 2007, he called for street demonstrations and the political protests and ethnic violence that followed killed more than 1,200 people and forced another 600,000 to flee.
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