Detectives from the Serious Crime Unit (SCU) who arrested blogger Albert Ojwang in Homa Bay and transferred him to Central Police Station in Nairobi have been summoned by the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) for questioning.
The officers, led by Senior Sergeant Sigei, are required to appear before IAU Director Wednesday, June 18, at the agency’s headquarters at KCB Towers in Upper Hill. Their summons aims to clarify their role in Ojwang’s arrest, transfer, and subsequent detention at Central Police Station, where he later died under controversial circumstances.
IAU will also seek to establish why the SCU officers opted to detain Ojwang at Central Police Station, rather than at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters’ regular facility, Muthaiga Police Station.
The summons come days after Police Constable James Mukhwana, in a sworn and revised statement to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), implicated top police officials and DCI personnel in Ojwang’s death. Mukhwana claimed he was informed in advance by his then-Officer Commanding Station (OCS), Samson Talaam, that DCI headquarters officers would be delivering a suspect to Central Police Station.
“The OCS was on his seat, he then called me ‘Mukhwana’. I responded ‘Yes Sir’. He then asked, ‘Umefanya kazi muda gani hapa kwa ofisi?’ I told him, ‘Muda mrefu kama miaka mbili.’ He then said, ‘Kuna directive kutoka kwa DIG Lagat, unamjua?’ I replied yes. Then he said, ‘Kuna officers wa DCI headquarters wanaleta mtu kama saa mbili hivi watakua wamefika,’” Mukhwana’s IPOA statement reads in part.
He added that a black Subaru pulled up to the station later that evening, and DCI officers alighted with a handcuffed suspect who was later confirmed to be Ojwang. Hours later, Mukhwana was informed by a colleague, Constable Lydia, that the suspect was unconscious.
IAU has since arrested several officers from Central Police Station who were implicated in the case. Among them is Inspector Ngang’a, who transported Ojwang’s body to Mbagathi Hospital and later to City Mortuary, and Constable Kimani, who was on duty as the cell sentry after Mukhwana.
The Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, last week directed the IAU to open a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged police misconduct in the case. The probe is expected to look into claims that officers tampered with CCTV footage to conceal Ojwang’s death, as well as contradictory official statements claiming Ojwang committed suicide in custody.
The IAU will also scrutinize the conduct of senior police officials allegedly involved in misreporting the incident and assess whether their actions undermined public trust and embarrassed the National Police Service (NPS). The IG has since apologized to the public, citing the premature and incorrect reporting of Ojwang’s cause of death.
IAU is the same unit that previously arrested and prosecuted DCI’s disbanded Special Service Unit (SSU) officers over the abduction and murder of two Indian nationals and their Kenyan taxi driver in 2022.
The investigation into Albert Ojwang’s death continues, with growing public demand for accountability and justice.
