At least 20 people have died while in police custody in the past four months, according to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), raising serious concerns about systemic abuse and brutality within Kenyan police cells.
Speaking before the National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security on Thursday, IPOA Chairperson Issack Hassan cited the recent death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang at Central Police Station, Nairobi, as the most disturbing example of what he described as “torture and murder.”
“We have had 20 deaths in police custody in the last four months,” Hassan told the committee, underscoring a growing pattern of alleged extrajudicial killings and official cover-ups within law enforcement.
Ojwang was arrested last Saturday in Kakot, Homa Bay County, by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over an alleged derogatory post on X (formerly Twitter). The complainant in the case is Deputy Inspector-General of Police Eliud Lagat. He was transferred to Nairobi and detained at Central Police Station, where police later informed his family that he had died in custody and that his body had been moved to City Mortuary.
Initial police reports suggested that Ojwang fatally injured himself by hitting his head on the wall. But IPOA’s preliminary findings have discredited this claim, revealing what the authority believes was a staged cover-up and manipulated CCTV footage.
“The signal by the police Inspector-General was incredible; it was a very poor cover-up attempt to say that Ojwang had hit his head on the wall,” Hassan said. “The CCTV had been interfered with. The man was tortured and killed.”
Hassan added that while IPOA lacks powers to arrest or prosecute, all officers involved in the incident are now being treated as murder suspects. This includes DCI officers from Homa Bay, the Nairobi-based officers who detained him, and those who processed his body after death.
“We are not going to be used as a fire extinguisher for police or enable this cover-up. We want the police to cooperate fully. Every officer involved in Ojwang’s arrest and detention is under investigation,” he said.
So far, IPOA has interrogated 17 police officers and six civilian witnesses, with more summonses expected. Notably, Deputy IG Eliud Lagat will be summoned to record a statement as the investigation nears completion.
Hassan also confirmed to MPs that IPOA is ready to arrest three suspects believed to be directly linked to Ojwang’s death.
“Of course, we expect some kind of blue code where officers will choose to be silent, but we have other means,” he said.
Ojwang’s death and the grim custodial death statistics have reignited calls for deep police reforms and renewed scrutiny of the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and the National Police Service’s role in shielding rogue officers from accountability.
