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Electoral officials meet with DPP over their safety
Director of Criminal Prosecutions Noordin Haji.
Several returning officers Wednesday met with Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji over their safety on the backdrop of reports of intimidation and mysterious deaths of two electoral officials.
They spoke of intimidation, threats, “abductions” and ethnic profiling stemming from the August 9 polls conducted by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“The officials also decried that they have suffered physical, emotional, material, and reputational damage while performing their duties,” the DPP tweeted.
“The ODPP remains committed to executing its constitutional mandate in accordance with the rule of law and will leverage the Memorandum of Understanding with IEBC to ensure they get access to justice and work with the Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai for their security.”
The meeting happened a week after IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said members of his commission had been intimidated and harassed.
“It has not been an easy journey. We have staff who have been profiled. The Embakasi RO (Daniel Musyoka) disappeared while on duty while others have been arbitrarily arrested for no reason and we don’t know where they are,” he said while announcing the presidential results.
Musyoka, 53, disappeared on August 11 while on duty and was later found dead in Loitoktok, Kajiado County.
His death resembled that of IEBC’s former ICT manager Chris Msando during the 2017 elections. Both were abducted at night, murdered and their bodies dumped in neighbouring counties near Nairobi.
Early this week another officer, Geoffrey Gitobu, 48, collapsed and died at his home in Laikipia County. He was the RO for Gichugu Constituency, Kirinyaga County.
Pathologists ruled out foul play in his death. After a post-mortem that lasted for over two hours at Nanyuki Cottage Hospital mortuary, three pathologists said Gitobu died from a clot in the pulmonary vein.
“We have established that he died from a blood clot. He was also anemic,” said Dr Ayub Macharia, who had been contracted by IEBC and the family.
Laikipia County Criminal Investigation Officer Onesmus Towett said they were yet to complete investigations, adding that they had taken some body tissues for further analysis.
“For now, we can say death was natural. However, we have taken body samples to conduct further investigations to rule out foul play. That is when we shall conclude the probe,” said Mr Towett.
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Mr Japhet Dibo, another officer, who was contracted by the electoral commission in the Information and Technology (IT) section, was found alive on Sunday after “an abduction”.
Mr Dibo had gone missing on August 18, and the matter was reported the next day at Kilimani Police Station. His lawyer, Mr Trevor Lichuma, said Mr Dibo was forcefully taken by unknown people on Thursday at 10pm and was released on Friday at 2pm.
