Kenya’s Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the main body overseeing the polls, has disclosed that a returning officer has mysteriously gone missing.
“The Commission wishes to inform the country that its returning officer for Embakasi East Constituency, Mr Daniel Musyoka, has been reported missing while on duty at the East African School of Aviation tallying center,” said IEBC in a statement on Friday night.
The development comes at a time the electoral body is tallying votes in the hotly-contested presidential election.
The poll, which pits the incumbent deputy president, William Ruto, 55, against veteran challenger Raila Odinga, 77, has turned out to be unexpectedly close.
IEBC said it’s tallying and verifying the results and expects to announce the president-elect soon.
Both sides have accused the other of underhanded tactics in the run-up to the polls, with Ruto saying Odinga is relying on Uhuru Kenyatta and state machinery to rig the polls and usurp the will of the people and Raila’s camp claiming Ruto plans to stoke tensions in the country.
The Commission said at around 9:00am on August 11, Musyoka’s bodyguard escorted him from his house to the aviation school’s tallying center.
“At around 9:45am, Musyoka excused himself to receive a telephone call, but he did not return,” said IEBC in a statement seen by ChimpReports.
“Mr Musyoka’s family and the Commission have been trying to reach him without success. His duties are now being handled by the deputy returning officer.”
Special Announcement; Missing Returning Officer.#GE2022 #KenyaDecides2022 pic.twitter.com/99EiaKg5G4
— IEBC (@IEBCKenya) August 12, 2022
The incident has evoked memories of the 2017 presidential election during which a senior IEBC official died under mysterious circumstances.
The body of Chris Msando, the head of information, communication and technology at the IEBC, the main body overseeing the polls, was found on the outskirts of Nairobi but news of his death was released 48 hours later.
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.
IEBC said it was “deeply concerned about the unfortunate incident and calls upon the relevant security agencies to speedily investigate” Musyoka’s mysterious disappearance.
IEBC said it had reported the matter to police for investigation.
Discussion about this post