Chief of Peacebuilding Strategy and Partnerships at the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) Dr Roselyn Akombe has expressed optimism that justice will be served one day over the death of Chris Msando six years ago.
In a statement, Akombe said that it is unfair to see those behind the brutal murder and their enablers roam around freely.
“It has been six years since they brutally tortured and murdered you my staff, Chris Msando. Sometimes it feels unfair to see those behind the brutal murder and their enablers roam around freely. But we know that justice will be served someday as we celebrate you as a shujaa for electoral justice and good governance,” Akombe stated.
Akombe served as a commissioner Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioner during the 2017 General Elections.
She served alongside Msando, who had been appointed as the ICT manager but was brutally murdered days before the elections.
According to an autopsy report, Msando was severely tortured and strangled to death. His body had deep scratches and cuts on his back and hands.
Akombe seems to be the only voice remaining calling for justice for slain Msando, whose death mystery has never been unravelled with investigations having seemingly stalled.
Police claimed to have arrested three people in connection to the murder, but have never paraded them. In 2020, police arrested a 17-year-old Standard 7 pupil in Migori with a phone that was reportedly used to send threatening messages to Msando.
Akombe flees Kenya
Akombe fled to the US in October 2017 amid death threats ahead of a presidential election re-run.
In a statement after fleeing the country, Akombe claimed that IEBC was under political “siege”, unable to reach consensus or take any decisions.
“We need the Commission to be courageous and speak out, that this election as planned cannot meet the basic expectations of a CREDIBLE election. Not when the staff are getting last minute instructions on changes in technology and electronic transmission of results,” read part of the statement.
“The Commission has become a party to the current crisis. The Commission is under siege. It has become increasingly difficult to continue attending plenary meetings where Commissioners come ready to vote along partisan lines and not to discuss the merit of issues before them.”
