Why Albert Ojwang’s death has put Kenya’s police on trial

“My son died as an animal,” said Meshack Ojwang, before melting in tears in front of journalists outside the central police station in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi.

His only son Albert Ojwang had been arrested in their village in Kakoth, near the western town of Homa Bay, the day before – Saturday June 7, 2025 – while he lunch with his wife Nevnina Onyango.

One of the five police officers who were arrested told the family that he had been accused of having insulted a police boss on social networks.

“We asked the police if he was going to be safe because we had heard stories of people kidnapped,” Onyango told BBC. “They assured us, at the very moment when they give us their number.”

When Mr. Ojwang was reserved for the central police station around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, he was authorized to call his wife.

“When we talked, he was like:” As much I am stressed, don’t worry much. I will see you soon. “I think these are her last words,” she said.

But his father was worried and decided to follow his son, making the trip of 350 km (220 miles) to Nairobi – bearing the title of family title as security in case it is necessary to pay a deposit.

He said he arrived early on Sunday morning at the station, and after continuing to wait several hours, it was finally informed that his son had died of self-inflicted injuries.

In the disbelief and standing next to his lawyer, he described when he saw his son’s body: “He was bumping with the nose and had a bruised torso and face. He was also shirtless, but that is not how I gave him to the police on Saturday.”

His Candide interview in sincere Swahili and his refusal to remain silent touched the Kenyans and the hashtag #justiceforalbertojwang immediately started, with calls to an investigation.

Kenya has history of police brutality, but subsequent revelations amazed the nation – not only the details of the death in police custody of the trained teacher who became a blogger, but the allegations that followed police and subterfuge lies.

Parliament even called the police chief, the Criminal Investigation Directorate (DCI), the Minister of Internal Affairs and the independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) for interrogation.

It is difficult to imagine why the graduate of the 31 -year -old educational baccalaureate could have died such brutal circumstances.

It is clear that his father, who worked in a career in southeast Kenya, was proud that his son of these humble beginnings did his studies so well.

“He was never able to hurt anyone online or physically,” said David Bwakali, a former Kituma high school teaching colleague, Kenya Daily Nation’s Journal.

Albert Ojwang, a fan of Manchester United football, had taught religious studies, history and rugby at the school of the city of Mwatate in southeast Kenya.

He was only there for a few conditions last year because he had not been employed on a government contract but in private through the school management board.

This is common for new teachers – he has not graduated from the University of Pwani for a long time – and such arrangements tend not to be well paid.

Mr. Bwakali said his friend had recently been in contact to discuss how he hoped to obtain a publication as a government teacher.

And it was an exciting period for Mr. Ojwang, who lived in the coastal city of Malindi, because he and his 26 -year -old wife had returned to his rural house in Homa for a long visit so that she could be properly presented to his family.

They had arrived in April and were, according to Luo Customs, formalizing their marriage.

Part of these traditions involved renovating his “Simba” – or a baccalaureate in his father’s family property – in a house adapted to the couple and their three -year -old son George.

He helped his parents do agricultural work in the field of two family acres – and his wife made plans for their future with the imminent diploma of Ms. Onyango as a health worker.

Mr. Ojwang was also trying to make money as a creator of digital content – and was part of a young people on social media on political and social issues.

This is what led to his death.

It is not clear how many followers he had on X because his account was deleted after his arrest, but the other influencers said that he had a strong online presence and had often participated in social media campaigns.

He used a pseudonym – something that is not unusual with online Kenyans given the recent repressions against the dissent of young people.

Activists have linked his death to a broader trend in police impunity, citing the unresolved death of more than 60 young people during the anti-Fiscal demonstrations from last year.

“Ojwang’s death is not an isolated incident, but a scary recall of institutionalized impunity and rogue behavior within the National Police Service (NPS),” Khalifa said renowned local media (Khelef Khalifa.

But what is unusual in the case of Albert Ojwang is how quickly and detailed the investigation was. In addition, two days of television parliamentary hearings meant that the Kenyans heard the disturbing details that led to his death for themselves.

Last Wednesday, when he appeared before the Parliament, the police chief, Douglas Kanja, was forced to withdraw a previous police declaration which said that Mr. Ojwang had been found unconscious in his cell and rushed to the hospital, where he died of the head injuries suffered after hitting his head against a wall.

The post -mortem examination and an unusually rapid IPOA investigation excluded the possibility that the blogger committed suicide.

The police chief apologized and blamed the “disinformation” error of his juniors.

He continued by saying that the arrest of Mr. Ojwang came from defamatory online publications targeting his assistant, Eliud Lagat – that has moved away since. Lagat said he was doing it in the “good and conscious thought” of his responsibilities as chief of the assistant police and that he would provide any support that he could in the investigation of the death of the blogger.

According to Mr. Kanja’s declaration in Parliament, the posts on X had alleged that Mr. Lagat directed corrupt operations in the police by placing trusted officers in specific departments and traffic changes to “control the sources of income and the intelligence flow”.

Mr. Kanja’s declaration detailed various positions, including the one who affirmed that Mr. Lagat was the subject of an investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) as well as his photo and the phrase “Mafia Cop”.

According to the parliamentary declaration of the police chief, Mr. Lagat had submitted a complaint to the DCI on June 4 about the posts. The next day, when the EACC confirmed that there was no investigation into Mr. Lagat, the police carried out what was considered a “serious affair” under the law on the abuse of the computer and the cybercrimes act.

Kanja said the Communications Authority had been contacted about two accounts related to the positions. This led to the arrest of a man on June 5 which revealed that he and four others were involved in the countryside – one being Albert Ojwang.

Two days later, police had found Mr. Ojwang in his native village in western Kenya.

In her testimony, the vice-president of the IPOA, Anne Wanjiku, gave some shocking details on the last hours of Mr. Ojwang’s life.

She said that two witnesses, who were in a neighboring cell, told the iPoa that they had heard noisy cries at night of her death.

IPOA investigators claim that a technician was paid $ 30 (£ 22) to disconnect the station’s video surveillance.

After the end of parliamentary hearings, Two police officers were arrested as part of Mr. Ojwang’s death.

The IPOA, who is the case, said that Junior Officer PC James Mukhwana had told investigators that the intention had been to “discipline” Ojwang, not to kill him.

He said that the station in charge of the station, Samson Talam had been contacted by Mr. Lagat with the prescription and had given the gendarme $ 15 to pay two detainees to beat Mr. Ojwang.

Mr. Talam, through his lawyers, denied allegation and Mr. Lagat did not comment.

Under the Kenyan law, persons in police custody are entitled to specific protections, in particular the right to legal representation and communication with defenders or support people.

Mr. Ojwang’s family is still struggling to absorb their loss.

“I hadn’t believed it before I saw her body in the morgue,” said Onyango, telling the BBC that he wore signs of torture. It was like “things we see in the movies … I have never seen such a body. It was so breaking,” she said.

President William Ruto, who is committed to ending Kenya’s history on police brutality and extrajudicial deaths when he came to power in 2022, spoke of his shock, saying: “This tragic event, in the hands of the police, is heartbreaking and unacceptable.”

He urged the police to cooperate fully to facilitate a “fast, transparent and credible investigation”.

“I expect the truth about what has happened to Ojwang to be established in due time and that justice will be done,” he added.

However, nearly 160 cases of alleged extrajudicial murders and forced disappearances were reported through Kenya last year, According to Kenya Human Rights Commission (Khrc).

The president of IPOA, Ahmed Issack Hassan, told the deputies when he was questioned on Thursday that at least 20 people died when he was detained by the police in the past four months.

“It is as if our Constitution was only like a newspaper to read, and tomorrow we forget it,” Ojwang’s father told the BBC.

The sorrow has overwhelmed Mr. Ojwang’s widow: “I don’t know what’s going to happen next, because this person who was my best friend … He is not there. So I have the impression that my world is so small and it is dark.”

But like her stepfather, Ms. Onyango thinks that the case, which has triggered demonstrations, could be a turning point.

“I think that Albert’s death should be a revelation for us, because it has shown us some of the things that happen in the cells that we may not know.

“I really want to talk to my compatriots Kenyans to stand up and try to talk about this question, so that everyone can be responsible.”