Elite DCI unit investigates disappearance of IEBC official

Police officers guard ballot boxes from Embakasi East at the East African School of Aviation tallying center. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Detectives from the Elite Special Service Unit have been roped into investigations of the whereabouts of an Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) official.

On Friday, IEBC chair Wafula Chebukati announced that Embakasi East Returning Officer Daniel Musyoka had gone missing and asked the police for help in finding him.

According to the IEBC boss, Musyoka was last seen at his workstation at the East African School of Aviation tallying centre on Friday.

Musyoka left his house at around 9 am in the company of his security guard and arrived at the tallying centre at around 9.45 am.

"He excused himself to make a phone call but did not return to the office," Chebukati said at Bomas during an update on the elections.

Yesterday, detectives from the Special Service Unit (SSU) together with officers from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau visited the tallying centre where Musyoka was last seen.

The investigators questioned security guards who were on duty on the day Musyoka went missing.

Musyoka's bodyguard from the Administration Police has recorded statements with the police.

Preliminary investigations by the police show that Musyoka's mobile phone was switched off at around 9.50 am in Embakasi.

After he went missing, the deputy returning officer took over his role.

The search has now been extended to Nakuru. The police want to confirm if Musyoka may have travelled home when left his workstation.

The disappearance of the poll officer is causing jitters across the country, coming at a time when the country is Kenyans anxiously waiting for the release of the election results.