Chris Msando, Kenya’s election board head of information, communication and technology, was found dead on Monday, just a week before the national vote.
Msando’s body was found in a bush by the side of a road near the town of Kikuyu three days after he had gone missing.
Wafula Chebukati, chairman of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), said there is no doubt Msando had been "tortured and murdered."
He also called for immediate around-the-clock police protection for other IEBC officials before the election next week .
On Saturdayunidentified gunmen attackedthe home of Kenya’s deputy president, William Ruto, in the country’s western town of Eldoret.
Kenya is no stranger to political violence. In 2007 more than 1,200 people died after veteran opposition leader Rail Odinga called for street protests after losing the election to former president Mwai Kibaki.
