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Moses Kuria: I had nothing to do with Chris Msando’s murder


Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria wants an end to claims he was linked to the mysterious death of Mr Chris Msando, who served as the IEBC’s ICT director.

Mr Kuria issued a statement at Parliament buildings on Monday, saying he had been unfairly linked to the murder just before the general election in 2017, despite giving police information he received from members of the public.

“I have had to live with a barrage of innuendos and accusations over the death of Msando for more than two years now,” he said.

“I must now say enough is enough. I really want to bring this matter to an end. Any further linkage of my name to the disappearance will be dealt with by the courts.”

WHAT HAPPENED

Msando went missing on the night of July 28, 2017, less than two weeks to a hot contest by Jubilee Party’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Raila Odinga of the opposition’s National Super Alliance (Nasa).

He was found dead alongside Ms Carol Ngumbu, a woman it is claimed he was with on the night he went missing. Their bodies were found in Karura forest after a two-day search.

With Kenya embracing ICT in voting and transmission of results across the country, the murder marked the beginning of questions into the credibility of the election, considering he had the passwords to servers belonging to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

True to this, Nasa filed a petition against Mr Kenyatta’s re-election, which saw the Supreme Court cancel the results ove3r credibility issues and order a fresh vote.

KURIA’S ACCOUNT

The MP, while giving an account of why Kenyans may have wrongly linked him to the death, said no human life is worth ending.

He said that on the weekend after news of Msando’s disappearance spread, with a picture of his vehicle widely circulated online, he was informed of the presence of a similar car in Roysambu, Nairobi.

At the time, he said, he was at a function in Murang’a County with Woman Representative Sabina Chege.

Mr Kuria said he called the Kasarani divisional police commander (OCPD), while still with Ms Chege, to inform him about the vehicle said to have been in his area of jurisdiction.

As a precautionary measure, he said, they waited for police to arrive and accompany them to the place where the women he spoke to alleged the car was.

DCI SUMMONSES

The lawmaker said that within 48 hours, he and Ms Chege were summoned to the DCI to record statements.

“What the police should tell Kenyans is what they did with the investigations. It’s not fair to continue associating me and Sabina with this. We were doing what any reasonable leader would do,” he said.

“No one is immune to or happy with these kind of accusations. I only volunteered information. I wonder why you, the media, the opposition and the civil society are not putting pressure on the police to tell what they did with the investigations.”

Mr Kuria said the Msando case should not take the same path as those of people including Dr Chrispine Odhiambo-Mbai, a former lecturer at the University of Nairobi.

The truth should be found and told even on murders that took place years ago, he said.

VIGILANCE

Mr Kuria further urged Kenyans to be vigilant and prevent the country from sliding back into the era of dictatorship.

He also cited the recent murder of an engineering student during protest against bad roads in Mwiki.

“A police State must not be allowed to creep back. Rights are being taken away,” he said.