{"id":147355,"date":"2026-07-20T17:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/protected-witness-tells-court-ocs-ordered-cctv-footage-formatted-after-albert-ojwangs-death\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T17:02:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:02:51","slug":"protected-witness-tells-court-ocs-ordered-cctv-footage-formatted-after-albert-ojwangs-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/protected-witness-tells-court-ocs-ordered-cctv-footage-formatted-after-albert-ojwangs-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Protected witness tells court OCS ordered CCTV footage formatted after Albert Ojwang\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 20 \u2013 A protected witness on Monday told the High Court that he was instructed to format the CCTV recording system at Nairobi\u2019s Central Police Station, effectively erasing surveillance footage recorded around the time detainee Albert Ojwang died in custody.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The testimony came as prosecutors presented three witnesses in the murder trial of six police officers and civilians accused over Ojwang\u2019s death, with the evidence centering on the alleged destruction of key digital evidence.<\/p>\n

The accused are former Central Police Station Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Samson Kiprotich Talaam, alongside James Mukhwana, Peter Kimani, John Ngige Gitau, Gin Ammitou Abwao and Brian Mwaniki Njue.<\/p>\n

The prosecution team, led by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jalso Makori, together with Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Wangui Gichuhi and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Duncan Ondimu, presented the witnesses before Justice Diana Kavedza at the High Court in Kibera.<\/p>\n

The first witness, identified only as DAN under witness protection, testified that he installed the station\u2019s CCTV surveillance system in 2024 and was summoned to Central Police Station on June 8, 2025.<\/p>\n

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the witness \u201cwas instructed to erase CCTV footage recorded on 6th and 7th June 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

DAN told the court that selectively deleting recordings for only those two days was technically impossible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe witness told the court that deleting footage for only the specified dates was not technically possible and that the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) would instead require formatting,\u201d the ODPP said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The witness testified that after obtaining approval from the OCS, he logged into the CCTV system using the records office credentials, confirmed that footage for the two dates existed, and proceeded to format the DVR without viewing the recordings.<\/p>\n

He further testified that he was paid Sh3,000 by the first accused, Talaam, after completing the task.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe witness stated that, after receiving approval from the OCS, they accessed the system using records office credentials, confirmed that footage for the two dates existed, and formatted the DVR without viewing the recordings,\u201d the prosecution said.<\/p>\n

The witness added that he was later instructed to return with two replacement hard drives but was informed upon arrival that they were no longer needed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Despite this, he said he had already purchased the hard disks and was reimbursed Sh20,000 in cash.<\/p>\n

According to his testimony, the station\u2019s records officer later informed him that his contact details had been shared with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).<\/p>\n

\u00a0He was arrested on June 13, 2025, before recording a statement with investigators.<\/p>\n

During the proceedings, DAN identified Talaam in court and also identified the DVR and two sealed hard disks, which were produced as prosecution exhibits.<\/p>\n

A second prosecution witness, CCTV technician Aaron Okwako, corroborated the claim that the surveillance system had been formatted.<\/p>\n

Okwako testified that he was called to Central Police Station on June 9, 2025, to assist with a CCTV-related assignment but found IPOA officers already conducting investigations.<\/p>\n

He said investigators asked him to examine the DVR located inside the OCS\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

According to Okwako, the recording device had been disconnected from the power supply and only resumed recording after it was reconnected.<\/p>\n

Following his examination, he concluded that the footage sought by investigators could not be recovered because the DVR had most likely been formatted rather than selectively edited.<\/p>\n

He also identified photographs of the OCS\u2019s office, the DVR and the station\u2019s CCTV display system, which were admitted as exhibits.<\/p>\n

The third witness, a protected records officer identified only as AA, told the court that when they reported for duty on the morning of June 8, 2025, the OCS informed them that a detainee had died in the police cells.<\/p>\n

The witness later reviewed CCTV footage together with the Deputy OCS and testified that they observed Police Constable Kimani accompanied by two unidentified individuals near the cell area.<\/p>\n

According to the witness, the footage showed the three men walking toward the last cell before later emerging while carrying what appeared to be a heavy object back in the direction of the same cell.<\/p>\n

The witness told the court they were unable to identify the object being carried.<\/p>\n

The trial is scheduled to continue on July 21, when the prosecution is expected to call additional witnesses as it seeks to prove the murder charges against the six accused.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 20 \u2013 A protected witness on Monday told the High Court that he was instructed to format the CCTV recording system at Nairobi\u2019s Central Police Station, effectively erasing surveillance footage recorded around the time detainee Albert Ojwang died in custody. The testimony came as prosecutors presented three witnesses in the murder trial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}