NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 10 – Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga has demanded for immediate action from Police Headquarters over social influencer Albert Ojwang’s death in a police cell.
In a statement, Odinga called for full accountability and swift, credible investigation into the matter.
“So far, nobody knows who gave the orders for Mr. Ojwang to be arrested and ferried all the way to Nairobi and yet that person should be answering to Kenyans,” he said.
Ojwang died over the weekend following his arrest on Friday over alleged false publication.
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has since interdicted the Commanding Officer at the Nairobi Central Police Station alongside other officers linked to the incident.
Odinga noted there is a gap in accountability that has drawn outrage from leaders, human rights groups, and the public over police conduct and extrajudicial killings in the country.
The Former Prime Minister described it as “senseless” and a deepening crisis within the National Police Service (NPS).
He observed that Ojwang now joins a long list of young Kenyans who have died in police hands under suspicious circumstances.
“When citizens can no longer tell the difference between the two forms of injustice- police injustice and mob injustice- we are staring at the reality of failure as a nation,” he stated.
Ojwang, had reportedly posted a critical message about a senior police officer on social media.
Shortly thereafter, he was picked up by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Homa Bay and transported to Central Police Station in Nairobi where he died in a police cell under unclear circumstances.
Human rights activists are now calling for an independent investigation, warning that failure to address the incident transparently will further erode public trust in law enforcement.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) launched a preliminary inquiry, to inquire what led to Ojwang’s death.
A postmortem conducted showed that he died from head injuries, neck compression and multiple soft tissue injuries due to assault.
