Top official of Kenya's electoral body goes missing

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Kenya’s electoral body on Sunday expressed concern over one of its officials who has gone missing a week before the general elections.

Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, said that Chris Msando had been missing since Friday, according to a press statement.

Msando, who works as IEBC's acting director of Information and Communications Technology, has not made any contact with his family, the statement said, adding the last communication from him is an SMS text to one of his colleagues at around 3.00 am local time (0000GMT) on Saturday morning.

"The content of the SMS suggests that he was conscious and fully aware of his itinerary for that day," Chebukati said.

The commission is working closely with the police and his family members to determine his location, he added.

This latest development comes just hours after the first batch of presidential ballot papers were dispatched from Dubai to Kenya.

According to the commission, 20,818,000 ballot papers were printed by the Al Ghurair printing firm in Dubai to serve 19,687,563 registered voters. They will reach Kenya on Monday.

Kenyans have taken to social media to criticize the printing of over 900,000 extra ballot papers, saying that they could be used to rig the polls.

The commission denied the allegations, saying that the excess amount is just a precaution to avoid spoiled ballot papers.

Kenyans will go to the polls on Aug. 8 to vote for a new government.