Prosecution: Albert Ojwang Was Tortured, Beaten and Strangled to Death – CCTV at Central Police Station Was Deleted
According to the DPP, in a bid to hide the evidence, the CCTV at the station was deleted and the Digital Video Recording (DVR) machine was formatted.
Photo: Courtesy.
By Robert Mutasi
The late teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang was beaten up with a blunt object and strangled to death, the Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga has told a court, revealing shocking new details of how the death was planned and evidence covered up.
Ingonga on Monday told the Kibra Law Courts that evidence gathered indicates Ojwang’s death was not an accident but a planned and deliberate plot to kill him while he was in custody at Nairobi’s Central Police Station.
According to the DPP, in a bid to hide the evidence, the CCTV at the station was deleted and the Digital Video Recording (DVR) machine was formatted.
During the first day of the hearing on Monday, July 21, 2026, Ingonga told the court presided over by Judge Diana Kavedza that evidence shows Ojwang’s death was not an accident but a planned and deliberate plot to kill him.
Prosecutors led by Gikui Gichuhi, Duncan Ondimu and Jalson Makori in their opening statements further told the court that Ojwang never hit his head as was alleged by police.
“Medical evidence will establish that Albert Ojwang died from blunt force head injuries, neck compression and multiple injuries sustained over his body, injuries that are wholly inconsistent with any suggestion that he merely struck his own head against a wall,” the prosecutors said.
Ojwang, who had travelled to Migori County to visit family in 2025, was arrested by officers reportedly linked to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations over a social media post authorities described as “derogatory.” He was taken to Nairobi and detained at the Nairobi Central Police Station.
Police had initially claimed he died by suicide after injuring himself while alone in a cell.
“He was rushed to the hospital after what we think was an attempted suicide. He had injured himself in the head and was rushed to the hospital, where he died. He did not die here in custody,” said Nairobi Central Police boss Stephen Okal at the time.
However, a postmortem conducted on Tuesday, June 10, at City Mortuary by five pathologists contradicted that account, ruling out suicide and confirming that the injuries were not self-inflicted.
“There were serious injuries to the head. There were also features of neck compression and multiple soft tissue injuries that were spread all over the body. These are injuries that are externally inflicted and are consistent with assault,” said Dr Benard Midiai, the lead pathologist. Pathologists said Ojwang died from head trauma, neck compression and widespread soft tissue injuries.
At the same time, the prosecution revealed that data of interest to the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA), which was to tell what transpired while Ojwang was detained, had been deleted and the machine formatted.
The first prosecution witness Aloni Okwako, a technician, told the court that he was called by his employer to rush to the station and found IPOA officers waiting for him. He said that he was led to the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) office where he found the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) had been disconnected and was not working.
The trial continues as the prosecution seeks to prove that Ojwang was tortured and strangled to death while in police custody.
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