Tensions ran high in Homa Bay County on Thursday as thousands of mourners, most of them youth, stormed and set fire to the Mawego Police Post during the funeral procession of slain blogger Albert Ojwang’.
The dramatic scenes unfolded as the late Ojwang’s body arrived from Nairobi ahead of his burial scheduled for Friday at his family home in Kokwanyo village, Rachuonyo East.
The convoy carrying the body was intercepted near Lida shopping centre, about one kilometre from the family home, by angry mourners demanding that the body be taken to Mawego Police Station, where Ojwang’ was first detained after his arrest in June.
The move was described by locals as a traditional attempt to “ward off evil spirits” and protest what they believe was a custodial death under suspicious circumstances.
According to eyewitness accounts, despite pleas from Albert’s father to allow the procession to continue peacefully, a standoff ensued for nearly three hours before the youths forcefully removed the coffin from the hearse and began marching toward the police post.
Once at Mawego Police Station, the crowd breached barricades, and the protest quickly escalated into a chaotic scene. The police post, including the OCS’s office, was torched, though officers had already vacated the premises.
The disturbance came just a day after a requiem service for Ojwang’ was held at Ridgeways Baptist Church in Nairobi, where family members—including his mother, Eucabeth Ojwang’—eulogised the 22-year-old as quiet and unproblematic.
They took my Albert just when I had prepared lunch for him. He had not even taken a bite of ugali before the police took him. When they came, Albert was trembling. I asked him what was wrong; he told me he had done nothing,” she said.
Ojwang’ was arrested at his father’s home last month and detained at Mawego Police Station before being transferred to Central Police Station in Nairobi, where he later died in custody. His death has triggered national outcry and renewed scrutiny of Kenya’s police accountability systems.
Legal questions have also been raised over his transfer from Mawego to Nairobi, with Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale questioning the absence of a court order during a Senate grilling of DCI boss Mohammed Amin on June 11.
We do not require a court order to move a suspect from one police jurisdiction to another,” Amin stated, confirming the transfer occurred between 4:00 PM and 9:32 PM on the day of his arrest.
The public pressure around Ojwang’s case forced Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat to step aside, pending investigations into alleged police misconduct.
Albert Ojwang’s death has now become a symbol of wider frustration with police brutality and systemic impunity, especially among Kenya’s youth, who continue to demand justice and accountability.
