Another IEBC Returning Officer Dies

Geoffrey Gitobu, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissioner (IEBC) Returning Officer for the Gichugu constituency in Kirinyaga County, is dead.

Media reports have indicated that Gitobu collapsed and died on Monday, August 22 under mysterious circumstances.

The cause of his death is yet to be established by the time of publication. Gichugu is one of the four constituencies in Kirinyaga County.

Gichugu was rocked by violence after supporters of Kirinyaga Governor Ann Waiguru and her challenger, Kirinyanga Woman Representative Wangui Ngirici clashed and disrupted ongoing tallying over counter-accusations of vote rigging.

His death comes after IEBC Returning Officer for Embakasi East constituency Daniel Mbolu Musyoka was found dead on Tuesday, August 15 after going missing four days earlier.

An autopsy done on Musyoka indicated that he was strangled to death. The exercise was conducted by a team of five pathologists sent to Oloitokitok Sub-County Hospital Mortuary to operate on his body before issuing the report.

However, it failed to provide a conclusive report on the cause of his death. The pathologists also carried to Nairobi some components for further forensic investigations.

Musyoka has been a national headline after IEBC chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, announced on Friday, August 12 that he had been reported missing.

Oloitokitok police boss, Kipruto Ruto revealed on Tuesday, August 16 that Musyoka's body was dumped in a place where wild animals were common, but he was not mauled. In addition, the body had fresh wounds, indicating that the murder took place before his body was discovered.

Musyoka's brother-in-law, Jackson Muimi and his sister Ann Mbolu revealed that Musyoka was a God-fearing man and that his death stemmed from a refusal to be bribed by his killers to manipulate numbers in the just-concluded elections.

CCTV footage that showed his movements outside a popular entertainment joint in Nairobi showed him conversing with a boda boda rider and a pillion passenger who also engaged with him before he left.

Investigations further revealed that he was busy returning several WhatsApp calls, with further investigations revealing that there was a woman who approached him as he walked past the CCTV cameras.