Roselyn Akombe, former Commissioner of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), has paid tribute to former IEBC ICT Director Chris Msando, saying "he was strangled for merely doing his job."
In a heartfelt message on her X page, Akombe recounted how Msando met his cruel demise on the eve of the then much-awaited 2017 General Elections.
As the then ICT Director, Msando was tasked with overseeing the electronic infrastructure of the contentious 2017 polls pitting the incumbent duo of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto against a coalition that had, among others, Raila Odinga, Moses Wetang'ula, Musalia Mudavadi, and Kalonzo Musyoka.
According to Akombe, Msando was committed to ensuring the elections remained uncompromised; the process had to be transparent, fair, and free from interference. Unfortunately, this noble national task ultimately led to his demise.
''Eight years ago, they strangled you for merely doing your work. You had openly stated that under your watch, elections would not be rigged. They silenced you forever. But justice will be served one day. Your legacy in the champion for electoral justice remains etched in our memories,'' Akombe wrote.
Just a few days before the elections, Msando vanished, and the search ended in horror; his body was discovered in a forest in the Kikuyu area on the outskirts of Nairobi next to that of a young woman on July 31, 2017, and taken to the city mortuary.
Msando had been slated to oversee the public testing of the voting system, which the IEBC had vaunted as key to eliminating vote rigging and delivering a credible election.
Akombe, who resigned from the commission weeks after Msando’s demise and went into exile, has often spoken about the threats and intimidation she faced during her tenure.
Year after year since Msando's passing, Akombe has been on the frontline, mourning him, releasing dossiers of his demise accounts, and advocating for justice for the IT expert.
In the years since his demise, Kenya's electoral processes have remained under scrutiny. Though reforms have been attempted, and new faces have entered the arena, the ghosts of 2017 still loom.
Eight years on, Msando’s killing remains officially unsolved. Many have viewed this unresolved case as a stain on the nation’s conscience.
Meanwhile, IEBC enjoys fresh leadership as the country gears up for the 2027 elections. Under the new chair, Erustus Ethekon, the electoral body has promised Kenyans free and credible elections.
