“Not Murder” – DCI Clarifies Rumors Surrounding Mysterious death of Gichungu Returning Officer
Laikipia County DCI boss Onesmus Towett has clarified the ongoing rumor that the Gichungu returning officer Geoffery Gitobu, who died mysteriously yesterday, was murdered.
Speaking to Citizen Digital, Towett explained that Gitobu’s death was reported as a sudden death case. He explained that the case was reported yesterday at 2.8 pm that Gitobu had collapsed in town and was pronounced dead on arrival after he was rushed to the hospital.
He said, “We have received a report that IEBC official has been murdered, which is not the position.”
He went on to dismiss the allegation that Gitobu’s death could have resulted from his involvement with the elections. He explained that Gitobu was yet to do his IEBC work as the elections of the place he was going to supervise had been pushed to 29th August.
He has urged the public, media, and politicians to avoid spreading rumors surrounding Gitobu’s death.
Laikipia County DCI boss Onesmus Towett dispels rumours around the death of Kirinyaga IEBC official Geoffrey Gitobu; Towett says it was a sudden death and not murder pic.twitter.com/G14zWpPxc0
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 23, 2022
However, he insisted that investigations are still ongoing to determine the cause of Gitobu’s death. He revealed that a postmortem will be conducted on Gitobu’s body tomorrow to determine the cause of his death; thus, people should be patient until tomorrow to know the truth.
News of Gitobu’s death hit the headline yesterday after the media reported that he died mysteriously.
His death has sparked reactions surrounding the safety of IEBC officials, considering that Embakasi East returning officer Daniel Musyoka was found murdered after missing for three days. The police are yet to find Musyoka’s murderers as the investigations are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, former IEBC commissioner Roslyn Akombe, who flee the country fearing for her safety, has condoled with Gitobu’s family. Saddened by Gitobu’s death, Akombe claimed that the killings of IEBC officials must be stopped.
