Amnesty International has condemned the murder of Chris Msando, head of information technology at Kenya’s independent election monitoring body.
Amnesty International’s Kenya researcher, Abdullahi Halakhe, gave the position of the organisation in a statement.
The group said there was the need to urgently probe his death.
The statement reads: “This gruesome murder, just a week before hotly contested elections, should sound alarm bells for the Kenyan government and highlight the need for them to up their game in terms of ensuring the safety of key officials at this tense time.
“Next week’s vote will be extremely close and there is a very real danger that the situation will erupt if the authorities do not ensure that the Kenyan people are able to cast their votes free from intimidation, threats and violence.
“Chris Msando’s death must be urgently investigated and those found responsible brought to justice.”
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Msando, the man in charge of Kenya’s computerised voting system was murdered days before the country’s presidential election slated for August 8.
He had earlier on Friday been declared missing, but was later found to be dead.
According to reports, his body was found with that of a woman who could not be identified, on the outskirt of Nairobi.
He is believed to have been tortured to death.
There is anxiety in Kenya generally over the country’s presidential election which is believed to be a close contest between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, a prominent politician and long time opponent of the president.
