IEBC ICT Manager Chris Msando Last moments as captured on CCTV camera
Postmortem reveals Kenyan election official Chris Msando 'strangled & tortured to death'
Three suspects have been arrested in connection to Chris Msando's murder
Police have reportedly arrested three people in connection with the killing of an electoral commission official and his female companion. And yesterday, police gave a new account of the last moments of Christopher Msando, the ICT deputy director at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), whose body was found in Muguga Forest, Kiambu County, on Saturday.The body of Maryanne Wairimu Ngumbu was also found metres away. In a statement, police explained that Mr Msando was on Friday night spotted at Club 7 along Koinange Street with Ms Ngumbu and another man.
A waiter told the police that the man left earlier but Msando and Ngumbu left at around 1am, according to the statement by police spokesman George Kinoti. Msando's vehicle, a Land Rover Discovery registration number KCB 262Q, was thereafter captured by highway surveillance cameras at the Uhuru Highway/Haile Selassie Avenue roundabout at 2.24am and later at the Bunyala Road/Uhuru Highway roundabout heading towards Mombasa Road. The car had two occupants - a male and a female, presumably Msando and Ngumbu.
But at 2.34am, when it was again captured by cameras heading towards Nyayo Stadium, only the male driver was in the vehicle.
A police source said the three suspects in custody could be paraded either today or tomorrow. Their identities remain unclear.
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| The Late Carol Ngumbu (Woman found killed with Chris Msando) |
Meanwhile,
police have contacted two mobile phone service providers to obtain
phone records to determine individual(s) Msando called before his
death. Detectives say they cannot trace clothes and other personal
belongings he had before his death. They want to know where Msando's
three mobile phones and the clothes he wore on Friday are as they try
to unravel the mystery surrounding his killing. Service providers The
team from the Homicide Department at the Directorate of Criminal
Investigations (DCI) headquarters asked two mobile phone service
providers to supply them with Msando's and Ngumbu's call data. "We
understand (Msando) was on phone most of the time he was captured on
camera and even sent messages to his colleagues and some friends. The
data from the phones will be helpful," said an official aware of the
probe.
Ngumbu's clothes and mobile phone are also missing. Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said a special DCI homicide team had been set up to investigate Msando's killing. "We are following certain crucial leads that we believe could lead to the eventual arrest and prosecution of the murderers," said Mr Boinnet, as he urged the public to volunteer information that could help solve the puzzle.
Detectives visited places where Msando was on Friday night, including Number 7 Bar and Restaurant on Koinange Street, where Msando and Ngumbu met for drinks. Police have asked Msando's family to help them establish if the car had a tracking system to establish where it was driven to after they left the bar. Almost two hours are unaccounted for - between 11.30pm on Friday and 2am on Saturday, when the vehicle was first captured along Harambee Avenue. It was next spotted along Mombasa Road near Bellevue. Msando had been at KTN for a TV show and told Ngumbu to wait for him at Number 7 Bar. Police visited the joint where they interrogated attendants.
Last moments of the late Chris Msando as captured on CCTV camera
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| The Late IEBC Director ICT Chris Msando |
- Throughout the drive and until the car disappeared along the Thika superhighway at around 3am, the woman is in the front passenger seat while the men, said to be ‘young’, sat in the back. Msando appears to be uncomfortable with the presence of his three passengers. His car is captured exiting the CBD through Harambee Avenue a few minutes to 2am and cruising along Mombasa Road.
- The ICT manager drives up to Mlolongo, then he is seen returning to the city centre. After a few metres the car stops. Msando steps out and he is captured speaking on a phone. The female occupant comes out of the car and stands next to the IEBC manager. “It appears the man (Msando) was under duress.
- He seems to have been pleading on the phone. After the brief conversation, he goes back to the car and continues driving slowly,” said a source.
- On reaching Bellevue, the car stops again at around 2.34am. Msando is caught on camera engaging the three occupants in a conversation for a while. He then proceeds to the CBD via the link between Haile Selassie Avenue and Harambee Avenue. Along Parliament Road, the car turns, then returns to the same road, joining Moi Avenue up to Waiyaki Way, where it makes a turn at the roundabout.
- It heads to the Globe Cinema roundabout up to Museum Hill through Kipande Road. “A few minutes later, it is captured along Forest Road where it stops, then drives on,” said the source. Msando joins the Thika superhighway and takes Kiambu Road. He makes a U-turn and is seen driving back to town. “On reaching Muthaiga roundabout, he drives towards Thika. This is around 3 am and the car disappears from CCTV cameras before reaching the GSU headquarters,” said the source. Before Msando’s body was found lying at the City Mortuary, detectives tracing his whereabouts had already pulled out the footage capturing his movement. “The investigators visited the communications centre based at Jogoo House, studied the footage, and retrieved the tape,” said an officer.
Kenyans demand Moses Kuria be investigated over Msando post
Reached for comment before Msando was confirmed dead, Kuria explained that a friend alerted him that the poll official's vehicle had been spotted parked at an apartment near Thika Road Mall. Kuria claimed Msando was a frequent visitor to the apartment but hung up when probed further.Who killed Chris Msando?
Msando was one of the few people who knew the location of IEBC servers and he had reported to Central police station that he had received death threats involving his work. Msando was at the centre of the electoral agency’s technology infrastructure, including the Kenya Integrated Elections Management Systems to be deployed for the first time.- He was head of data centre support and elections and infrastructure — one of the few who knew intricate details of ICT servers, their locations and passwords.
- The servers include one for the 292 constituencies, including diaspora and prisons, the server for counties, the National Tallying Centre and the IEBC national office.
- “Chris Msando was instrumental in the new integrated electronic management system. His death should be treated as premeditated murder,” Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo said.
A visibly shaken Chebukati demanded the government provide security for all IEBC officials before the General Election election next Tuesday. "...the state must assure us that all IEBC employees are safe," he said. "We are working with police to ensure the killers are brought to book."
In earlier interview, Msando who joined IEBC in 2016, said it would not be possible to hack the IEBC systems and that the technology would not fail. “We have used the highest level of encryption, so no third parties can intercept and decrypt the messages transmitted,” he told Citizen TV last month.
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Woman killed alongside IEBC ICT manager Msando identified
She had completed her studies at Kenya Medical Training College, Karen Campus. She was due to graduate in December after her attachment in Naivasha. On Friday she was in the city center and told her sister she would go home later in the night. Her mother told journalists she learnt of her death through the media.
Her mother described her as a jovial and calm child. She added her daughter did not own a room in Roysambu and had in the past weeks operated from their Gachie home. Some of the family members led by her father David visited City Mortuary to view the body in vain. They were informed the Homicide detectives handling the case had locked it as an exhibit.
Her sister Jedida Wanjiku said she had talked to her on phone on Friday and the deceased told her she was to meet Msando in the city for a few drinks. “Caro said she would come home later after the drink date. I knew she and Chris were friends for the past months,” said Jedida.
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| Woman killed with Chris Msando (Carol Ngumbu) |
Jedida said she became curious on Saturday when her friends called her to say she could not be reached on phone. “I also tried in vain. Her mobile phone was not going through,” she said. It dawned on her on Monday that Carol was dead when she saw on TV that the body of Msando had been found dead. “I knew she was the one because she had gone out for a drink with Chris,” said Jedida. It was then that she left for City Mortuary where together with her friends identified the body. “We went without informing the parents. On reaching the mortuary I feared going in and asked my friends to go in. Shortly I heard my friend scream and knew she is the one,” said Jedida. The sister later signed some forms at the mortuary to confirm they had identified the body.
The body of Carol was almost a kilometer away from that of Msando in Muguga forest, Kiambu County. Some family members of Msando said they knew her. Police are yet to know the motive of the killing of the two. They seem to have been hijacked from the city centre and driven around before they were murdered and their naked bodies dumped in Kikuyu. Preliminary findings show the two were together in the city up to about 11pm. Msando’s car was found in Roysambu, about 40 kilometers away from where the bodies were.
