Babu Owino: I had nothing to do with the death of IEBC returning officer
Embakasi East Member of Parliament Paul Ongili alias Babu Owino has categorically stated that he had nothing to do with the murder of Mr Daniel Musyoka, who until the time of his death was a staff of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
While addressing the media on Wednesday, the MP-elect wondered why he could be interested in ending the life of Mr Musyoka, who was the Embakasi East Returning Officer, yet it was clear that he was the one who had won the elections.
“He disappeared moments before he could declare who had won in the elections. At the time, it was already clear that I had won the elections against my unworthy opponent Mr Mureithi. When someone dies the first question is who will benefit from the death of this person?” the MP said.
His reaction, comes barely a day after one of his opponents, Mr Francis Mureithi, who ran on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, sensationally claimed that Mr Owino could have been behind Mr Musyoka’s murder. Mr Mureithi further claimed that key witnesses had already raised concerns that they were being threatened.
Mr Owino, a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), was declared the winner of the Embakasi East parliamentary seat with 53,195 votes against Mr Mureithi’s 26,699 votes.
Mr Owino also said he has instructed his lawyers to move to court and sue Mr Mureithi for defamation for linking him to the murder.
According to Mr Owino, the deceased did his job well during the election in the constituency. He wondered why of all the aspirants on the ballot he is the only one being linked to the murder.
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Mr Owino was accompanied by Mr George Aladwa who is the MP-elect Makadara constituency and also ODM chairman in Nairobi County. Mr Aladwa likewise rebuked Mr Mureithi for his claims.
“It is high time that Mr Mureithi stops spreading unnecessary propaganda and he should know that Mr Owino won the elections,” Aladwa said, adding that ODM Nairobi chapter is keenly following up on the case.
Mr Musyoka, went missing on Thursday, August 11 under unclear circumstances while he was still on duty. The announcement of his disappearance was made public by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati on the night of Friday, August 12, at the Bomas of Kenya during the presidential election results verification process.
In his statement, Mr Chebukati said that Mr Musyoka went missing at 9am at the East Africa School of Aviation where the tallying of presidential election results from Embakasi East constituency was being conducted.
Mr Musyoka’s body was found at Kilombero forest near Amboseli National Park in Kajiado Sub-County and was positively identified by his two sisters Mary Mwikali and Ann Mboya.
On Tuesday, August 16, 2022 detectives drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) from the Forensic Unit arrived at the Loitoktok Sub County hospital mortuary for preliminary investigations into Mr Musyoka’s death.
Loitoktok Sub-County police boss Mr Kipruto Ruto said that the body of the deceased was discovered by herders at the forest which is at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro.