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Chris Msando's family: August polls a sad reminder of our tragic loss
Late IEBC Manager Business Systems Chris Musando (right) and then Safrom Morpho Technician Pamela Owitti confer with before making a presentation to media on how devices acquired by the commission will be integrated into the Kenya Integrated Election Management Systems to monitor and disperse election results at IEBC offices on July 6, 2017.
The family of the late Independent Electoral Commission (IEBC) deputy ICT boss Christopher Msando has organised a memorial service in his honour at their rural home in Lifunga Kobiero, Siaya County, on July 28.
The date is significant to the family because it was the day Msando was reported missing before his body was discovered three days later.
It will be a quiet family event at the local church, where his widow and children are expected.Ms Pamela Msando, sister of the late Msando, said memories of his death will not go away.
“You will not believe it when I tell you I don't watch television because of the trauma. It is the television that broke the news of my brother’s death and every time I watch it, the memories come back to traumatise me,” she said by phone.
As the August 9 elections approach, Ms Pamela Msando says there is no motivation for her to take part in the process, saying it a sad reminder of their loss.“
The campaign posters, the branded vehicles are all reminders of my brother’s brutal killing ahead of the 2017 elections. Come to think of it, because of these elections I lost my brother and my mother is in a worse state compared to me,” she added.
Her sentiments were echoed by Mr Andrew Otieno, their cousin, who said that the death changed everything in the family.
“Today the mother of Mr Msando does not want to hear anything about politics, contrary to when her eldest son Mr Evans Msando contested the Ugenya parliamentary seat and she would host many people who visited her to check on the son,” said Mr Otieno.
According to Ms Pamela Msando, the fact that little has been done to ensure the family gets justice after five years contributes to the trauma.
“We went together with the family members to the DCI to check the progress of the case sometime back; nothing has been done other than opening of the file. It pains us because the killers are out there living their lives as if nothing happened,” she lamented.
Before his death Msando had assured Kenyans in a television interview that the elections would be free and fair. President Uhuru Kenya faced Raila Odinga in the presidential poll.
The outcome was nullified by the Supreme Court and the IEBC was directed to conduct the process fresh.
A postmortem conducted by government pathologist Johansen Oduor revealed that Msando died of strangulation.
“He died from strangulation and he also had incisions on his right arm, but the rest of the body was intact,” said Mr Oduor after conducting the autopsy.
Msando’s disappearance was announced on July 28 as the 2017 elections drew nearer.
His body was found three days later alongside that of 21-year-old Carol Ngumbu at the Maguga forest in Kikuyu.
His death cast a cloud of confusion at Anniversary Towers, where the offices of the IEBC are located, and Kenyans started raising questions about the transparency of the elections that were to be held the following month.
Five years later, the death continues to haunt Msando’s family in Lifunga Kobiero, Siaya County.
IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, addressing the press in 2017 after the autopsy, said Msando was tortured and murdered.
The postmortem was conducted at Lee Funeral Home in the presence of some family members and a private pathologist hired by the family.
Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i promised that the best detectives would unravel the underlying facts that led to Msando’s death.
Now the family feels cheated.
Key leads that investigators hoped to use to unearth the killers included CCTV footage that captured the last time Msando’s vehicle was spotted. This was to help establish the direction he followed.
DNA traces on his clothes could also help in identifying the people he was in contact with before his death.
In a statement released jointly after the incident, the United States and United Kingdom said they were gravely concerned about the murder and called for free, fair, transparent and verifiable elections.
The two nations also offered to help Kenya with the investigations. The family accepted the foreign offer in order for the process to be concluded faster.
