Why Kenya’s latest political murder may end up as just another cold case irrespective of FBI or Scotland Yard assistance
The writer is a journalist with P.Live in Kenya
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Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ICT Manager, Chris Msando went missing on Friday and was found dead in Kikuyu alongside that of an unidentified woman and taken to the mortuary on Saturday at 11 am.
His death has increased tensions seven days to a general election that has been fraught with accusations between the main Jubilee and NASA parties.
US ambassador Robert F. Godec and British High Commissioner Nic Hailey on Monday condemned the killing and offered their assistance in the investigation.
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“The United States and the United Kingdom are gravely concerned by the murder of IEBC’s Systems Development Manager Christopher Msando… We welcome the Government of Kenya’s commitment to investigating the murder. We have offered our assistance in the investigation.” Part of their joint statement read.
The embassy of Denmark has also written to be enjoined in the statement.
The Kenyan government, however, has to first accept the offer before an external investigation unit can jet into the country.
This is not the first time FBI and Scotland Yard have investigated Kenyan cases and the results have been mixed.
Two officers, Det Supt Graham Searle and Det Insp David Shipperlee from Scotland Yard travelled to Kenya in 2001 to conduct their own investigation into the brutal murder of British tourist Julie Ward whose mutilated body was found in 1988 at a campsite in the Masai Mara game reserve.
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After they were done, they quietly flew out of the country and never heard from nor their report seen by the public.
Nine years later, a team from the Metropolitan Police spent 10 days in the country re investigating the brutal unsolved murder of Julie Ward.
In 1990, Detectives from London's Metropolitan Police, spent four months in Kenya investigating the murder of Kenya’s foreign Affairs minister Robert J. Ouko at the request of the Kenyan government.
The participation of these two agencies might not put paid to the suspicion and tensions that are growing though due to Kenya's history with such arrangements.
The FBI and Scotland Yard , famed for their thoroughness and professionalism have to operate under a certain jurisdiction and with cooperation from the local police.
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Secondly, once they have concluded their investigations, they have to hand over the report to the police who will then hand it over to the government who may choose to remain tight lipped about the report or release it to the public.
Most African states simply resort to classifying these report as state secrets, meant for government eyes only.
Suffice to say ,the political cost is always considered to high a price to pay for justice to prevail.
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