NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 11 – The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has revealed that the CCTV system at Central Police Station in Nairobi was tampered with as investigations into the death of teacher and social media influencer Albert Ojwang’ intensify.
Appearing before the Senate on Tuesday, IPOA Vice Chairperson Anne Mwangi told Senators that their early findings have already ruled out suicide.
The CCTV recording device at the station was seized and sent for forensic analysis which confirmed foul play.
“The CCTV system located at the OCS office had been interfered with. The post-mortem showed that Ojwang’ died from a head injury caused by blunt force trauma, neck compression, and multiple bruises on his body. This clearly shows he did not die by suicide,” she said.
Ojwang’ was arrested in Migori and taken all the way to Nairobi before dying in custody. His death has caused outrage across the country with calls for accountability and justice.
IPOA told the Senate that their team had visited and documented the crime scene to preserve evidence and better understand what took place.
They collected blood samples from the area and analyzed the pattern of blood at the scene. Police documents related to Ojwang’s arrest and detention were also taken from Central Police Station.
IPOA also confirmed that five officers who arrested Ojwang’ had already given statements. They also contacted the deceased’s family and identified possible witnesses who may help shed more light on the case.
However, Mwangi explained that several important steps in the investigation are still pending.
These include sending all samples for full analysis, recording more statements from family members and officers at Central Police Station, collecting any medical documents from Mbagathi, and analyzing all the evidence to produce a final report.
“I issue our condolences, as the Authority, to the family of the young man. We have been mandated to oversee the police on issues of crime and criminal offences,” she stated.
The IPOA team assured the Senate that they will carry out a full and independent investigation.