Kenyans protest murder of elections board official

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya

A few dozen Kenyans -- mostly civil servants -- on Tuesday took to the streets of the Kenyan capital Nairobi to protest the torture and murder of elections board IT director Chris Msando.

The crowd, comprising of about 50 civil servants, activists and local residents chanted slogans, clapped their hands while holding signs, which read “Justice for Msando free and fair elections, stop the bloodshed”.

“We Kenyans are here to fight for our rights, to fight for Msando. When we go to the elections, we need to vote for people who will not watch as innocent people are killed,” George Kegora, one of the organizers of the protest and the executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), said.

The body of Chris Msando, IT director of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), was found with an arm missing on Sunday, in a forest on the outskirts of the capital Nairobi just over a week before Kenyan elections, police said. He had been missing since last Friday.

Holding a sign with “Kenya is Crying” written, Muthoni Wanyeki, the Amnesty International director for East Africa, called for support of the electoral body's officials.

"Our hope and our sort of being here is to tell the IEBC commissioners not to be intimidated to do their job as this death has sent fears through the department. We are here to mourn the death of the official and also to mourn with the family of the man,” she said.

IEBC boss Wafula Chebukati thanked Kenyans for coming out to protest the murder.

He said the IEBC was in mourning but would deliver a free, fair and peaceful election come Aug. 8. He also attempted to reassure the crowd saying the commission's servers were secure.

On Monday, Human Rights Watch urged the Kenyan government to investigate the killing of Msando, calling him “pivotal to managing the August elections”.

Kenyans are scheduled to vote in legislative and presidential elections on Aug. 8.