IEBC presiding officer commits suicide after conducting elections

 

IEBC officials at work in Karatina tallying station, Nyeri County on 9th August 2017. [photo by David Gichuru/Standard]

The family of an elections presiding officer with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has confirmed that he committed suicide over the weekend.

The body of Orenge Nyabicha, a former sub-editor with The Standard, was found in his house in Quarry-Pipeline area on Saturday morning.

A postmortem conducted at the City Mortuary, where the body was taken by police, indicated Mr Nyabicha died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to a relative he was living with, Nyabicha arrived home after concluding his work as a presiding officer at the Imara Daima polling station and appeared disturbed.

When police broke into his house, they found a charcoal stove, which he had apparently lit, and all the ventilation holes covered.

A suicide note left behind, which is in the possession of police at Embakasi Village Station, read that Nyabicha was frustrated with "IEBC's failure to deliver a credible, free and fair election".

A family member has told Standard Digital that they did not see the contents of the suicide note.

The letter also read that the possibility of Kenya realising change was not feasible and that he was going to heaven to be "in the company of Mahatma Gandhi".?