Ojwang’s death: Ipoa interrogates 13 police officers
A photo of Voi-based teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang, who died while in police custody.
Seventeen police officers involved in the operation that led to the death of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang at the Central Police Station in Nairobi have been summoned by the Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (Ipoa), the Nation can now reveal. By midday on Wednesday, 13 of the 17 officers had appeared before the Ipoa investigation team.
The officers include six who were on duty the night Ojwang died and were later suspended by Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja. The others include officers who arrested Ojwang at his home in Kasipul, Homa Bay County, as well as several officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
Mr Ojwang was first taken to Mawego Police Station after being arrested in his home in Kakoth, Homa Bay County, last Saturday. His father, Meshack Ojwang, was instructed to accompany the officers to Nairobi.
“They were summoned and started appearing before the investigating team on Wednesday. They are also recording statements related to what unfolded on the day Ojwang lost his life,” said a senior Ipoa official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Those interdicted include the Officer in Charge of the Station (OCS), Samson Talaam; duty officer Samuel Ng’ang’a; and police constables Charles Muriuki, Debian Lusweti, Peter Kimani and Evaline Kanyiri.
A key challenge for investigators has been the tampering of CCTV cameras at Central Police Station. Footage that could have shown how events unfolded before Mr Ojwang’s death was unavailable during the authority’s inspection on Tuesday.
“Ipoa investigators in a fact-finding mission were not able to retrieve the CCTV footage that captured what took place on the night Mr Ojwang died,” the source said.
The footage could have helped to identify when the deceased arrived at the station, who was with him, who visited the station that night, and the time at which he was taken from his cell to Mbagathi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Two witnesses, who were in adjacent cells on the night Ojwang died, told the investigating officers that they had heard loud screams coming from his cell.
A post-mortem examination conducted on Tuesday revealed that Mr Ojwang died from a head injury and blunt force trauma, contradicting the official claim that he had taken his own life by hitting his head against a wall.
“The team was waiting for the post-mortem report to determine the next steps. Since it showed he did not commit suicide, Ipoa proceeded with interrogating the officers involved,” the source said.
On Tuesday, the Director of Public Prosecutions gave Ipoa seven days to complete the investigation and submit a file for review.
“In light of the foregoing and pursuant to Article 157(4) of the Constitution and Section 5(2) of the ODPP Act, Cap 6B of the Laws of Kenya, the DPP has directed Ipoa to expedite investigations. The file should be submitted to the DPP within seven days for review and appropriate action,” read a statement from the ODPP.
Mr Ojwang was arrested following a complaint filed by Deputy Inspector-General of Police Eliud Lagat, regarding a post on Mr Ojwang’s X (formerly Twitter) account.
IG Kanja said the officers were acting on Mr Lagat’s complaint, a claim which has not been disputed by Mr Lagat.
According to Mr Kanja, the police sought details about the X account from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK). On June 4, officers wrote to the CAK requesting information about the account username 'Pixelpioneer', which had allegedly posted defamatory content about Mr Lagat.
Mr Kanja read out the following post from the Senate: “Mr Eliud Lagat had strategically placed his most trusted officers in charge of DCI desks and traffic shifts in order to control both revenue streams and the flow of intelligence.”
On the same day, CAK responded with the requested account information. Officers then travelled to Migori County to arrest Mr Kevin Moinde, who was allegedly involved with the account.
During interrogation at Kamukunji Police Station, Mr Moinde reportedly identified the other administrators of the account, including Albert Ojwang (who is now deceased), and five others.
A team was then dispatched to Homa Bay to arrest Ojwang, who was transferred to Central Police Station in Nairobi. He arrived at the station at 9.17pm.
DCI Director Mohamed Amin has since identified OCS Talaam as the main suspect in Ojwang’s death.
“It has further been confirmed that before booking, the report office personnel called the OCS, who declined to book the suspect. Mr Talaam is the OCS and by the totality of things, he should be treated as the prime suspect,” Mr Amin told the Senate on Wednesday.
Mr Amin also dismissed claims that Mr Ojwang was taken to DCI headquarters before being booked at Central Police Station.