Phone mystery in murder of IEBC official

Slain Embakasi East Returning Officer Daniel Musyoka. [File, Standard]

Investigations into the gruesome murder of Embakasi East Returning Officer Daniel Musyoka have revealed he was using a second, secret mobile phone on the day he went missing.

This revelation came to light yesterday after officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Embakasi questioned a security guard who had been assigned to chauffeur and protect the election boss.

A friend who shared a house with Musyoka told the police that the IEBC official had borrowed his mobile phone to call his driver-cum-bodyguard at 8.15am on August 11.

Investigators said they had established that Musyoka had left his mobile phone in a drawer back at his office. They could not, however, determine why Musyoka had not carried his mobile phone home.

Police said the friend had been living with Musyoka for close to a month after he was transferred from Oloitoktok.

Investigations have revealed that Musyoka was at his office at around 9am where he stayed until 9.40am when he is reported to have stepped out and left the gates of the tallying center.

CCTV footage from different cameras in the area showed that Musyoka was speaking on a mobile phone when he left his work station.

But further analysis showed that Musyoka's known cellphone was switched off between 9.40am and 10.50am when it was switched on, then switched off.

This led investigators to conclude that the IEBC official was using a cellphone that not even his family or colleagues knew he had.

Initially, it was believed that Musyoka could have been using an app like WhatsApp to call using the internet and not his telco's network infrastructure.

Investigators are keen to establish why Musyoka had left his known mobile phone in his office, and which mobile number he was using on the fateful day.

CCTV footage later showed Musyoka speaking to a boda boda rider at Tassia, which is close to his work area, at 11.15am. That was the last time he was seen alive. Police now hope they can identify the boda boda rider to aid in their investigations.

Detectives from the Nairobi area Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau together with their counterparts from the Embakasi DCI on Wednesday visited the polling center.

Their mission was to reconstruct the movements of the elections boss from his house to the tallying center and possibly to Oloitoktok in Kajiado County, where his body was recovered on Monday evening.

Detectives familiar with the investigation have told The Standard that from the CCTV footage gathered so far, there was no indication that Musyoka was being followed.

He seemed relaxed as he walked towards the direction of a nearby bus stop. There is also no indication that he could have been trailed by a vehicle or a motorbike, the investigators said.

They also said scrutiny of Musyoka's mobile money accounts did not reveal any suspicious transactions.

Detectives from the Special Service Unit are also helping with investigations.

IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati said Musyoka had gone missing in unclear circumstances.

According to Mr Chebukai, Musyoka was last seen at his work station at the East African School of Aviation tallying center on Friday.

"He excused himself to make a phone call but did not return to the office," said Mr Chebukati.