The men with blood on their hands

Albert Ojwang’s final moments tell a harrowing tale of state-sanctioned brutality, rooted in power struggles among top security agencies, The Standard can reveal.

The 31-year-old teacher from Homa Bay, known for his outspoken social media presence, was arrested, beaten, denied medical care and died in police custody over a social media post. 

At the centre of the storm are some of Kenya’s most powerful security institutions, now accused of weaponising both the police service and social media to settle internal rivalries. Multiple sources indicate that Ojwang appears to have been a fatal casualty in these turf wars.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja’s admission that Ojwang was arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for allegedly tarnishing the name of Deputy IG Eliud Lagat has shed light on those involved.

They include Lagat himself, the OCPD at Central Police Station, Stephen Okal, the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mohamed Amin, whose plain clothes officers were involved in investigations, and the transportation of Ojwang from Homa Bay to Nairobi's Central Police Station. The DCI sleuths delivered Ojwang to Central Police Station bleeding, well-placed sources in the police service told The Standard.

Officers at the station said the Officer Commanding Station (OCS), Benjamin Tallam, refused to book Ojwang at the police station since he was bleeding heavily. He said the man needed medical attention first.

“He was walking, but bleeding — he’d been badly assaulted,” said a police officer at Central, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The OCS refused to book him and told the DCI officers to take him to the hospital.”

Ojwang’s ordeal had begun quietly in Kakot village, Homa Bay, where he was having lunch with his father, Meshack Opiyo, on Saturday afternoon. Their meal was interrupted by two motorcycles carrying plainclothes officers who identified themselves as DCI. They handcuffed him and told his father he was being arrested over a post on X (formerly Twitter) that insulted a senior police officer.

Though Ojwang’s own X account was not named, the offending post appeared on an account run by Kelvin Moinde, where Ojwang was an admin, and was deemed a “false publication” insulting a senior officer.

“They told me he had insulted their boss,” Opiyo recounted. “I asked who, but they told me to keep quiet.”

Moinde is Ojwang's counterpart, who was then being held at Kamukunji Police Station. He was released yesterday amidst public pressure.

Ojwang was first held at Mawego Police Station in Homa Bay before being transported over 385 kilometres to Nairobi. His condition worsened with each stop. When he arrived at Central Police Station, he was bleeding heavily, struggling to walk and visibly injured. 

“The reason he was arrested, along with a few others, was because of a complaint lodged by Deputy Inspector General Kenya Police Service (DIG KPS) over defamation,” said IG Kanja yesterday, whose statement is now being questioned. “He has a right, under the same law, to be defended,” added Kanja.

At Central Police Station, Ojwang was thrown into a cell—unbooked, unattended. Hours later, he was declared dead at Mbagathi Hospital. Police claimed he had died by suicide, hitting his head repeatedly against the cell wall. But his family and independent witnesses rejected that version.

“My son was asthmatic and frail,” said Opiyo. “There’s no way he could have done that to himself. He was beaten and left to die.”

Kanja’s statement gave a different story - he was found in cell unconscious and immediately rushed to Mbagathi hospital for treatment, as documented under OB number 09/08/062025.

“In addition to ensuring thorough, impartial and expeditious investigations by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), I ordered the interdiction of the officers,” Kanja said, in what many believe is a cover-up.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has called for the suspension of Deputy IG Eliud Lagat, saying he must take responsibility for Ojwang’s arrest over a social media post.

"He must take full responsibility for this murder," said Gachagua.

Gachagua claimed  Lagat controls Kamukunji and Central stations without IG Kanja’s knowledge, calling them “torture chambers.” He dismissed the interdiction of junior officers, saying it won't deliver justice.

"Suspending junior officers at Central Police Station is hoodwinking Kenyans. For any meaningful investigations to be done, Mr. Eliud Lagat must be suspended immediately," Gachagua added.

Ojwang’s death has once again exposed the rot in Kenya’s security services, one marred by leadership feuds, human rights violations, and a dangerous culture of impunity. 

What should have been a routine investigation turned into a national scandal, laying bare the fractures in the police service. 

Ojwang’s death has peeled back layers of conflict among Kenya’s top security chiefs. According to multiple sources, the DCI, the office of the Deputy Inspector General, and the Ministry of Interior are locked in a vicious power struggle. Tensions reportedly escalated after the viral post targeting DIG Lagat, prompting a retaliatory crackdown.

“This was a politically motivated arrest,” a senior security official told The Standard. “The DIG didn’t want criticism. He used State machinery to silence Ojwang.” 

A senior officer said that the Central Police Station has a special holding area for suspects brought in by the DCI. He added that some of the people who gave orders are now busy walking around at the time they would have stepped down.

“... Instead of arresting those who picked him up in Homa Bay and interrogating them, the IG is targeting people here in Nairobi,” the officer said, adding, “They had their seniors, what about them?”

Law Society of Kenya President Faith Odhiambo called for DIG Lagat’s recusal from the investigation, citing interference and bias. She also questioned the transparency of the process.

“Why hasn’t the IG named the interdicted officers?” she asked. “And are those who arrested Ojwang part of them?”

Ojwang’s family believes the order to arrest him came from the top. Lawyers representing the family say there is evidence that DIG Lagat directly pressured officers to detain Ojwang. The DCI allegedly oversaw the transfer to Nairobi without following legal procedures. 

Eyewitnesses say Ojwang was handcuffed despite pleading that he had asthma. His health rapidly declined, and requests for medical attention were ignored. At the Nairobi Funeral Home, his death was listed as “sudden,” not suicide. His father, initially directed to Mbagathi Mortuary, discovered that the body had already been transferred, without family notification.

IPOA has come under criticism after its chairperson appeared alongside the IG at a joint press briefing—a move critics say compromised IPOA’s independence.

“This sends the wrong message,” said a former journalist, Kennedy Murithi Bundi. “The watchdog is sitting next to the accused.”

For Ojwang’s family, no statement can explain away the loss. Ojwang was a father to a two-and-a-half-year-old child, a husband, and a man known for his courage and wit online. His death is not just another statistic—it is a chilling reminder of what it costs to speak truth to power.

“I struggled for 20 years to raise and educate my only son,” Opiyo said through tears. “Now he’s dead because someone didn’t like a tweet.”

Ojwang’s case is now a rallying cry in the fight against police brutality in Kenya. Civil society groups are demanding an independent inquiry, international oversight, and systemic reform. Lawyers are preparing lawsuits against not only the officers involved but also the state for wrongful death.

"There has been no worse mutilation of our freedoms in Kenya than under this regime," Gachagua said. 

"It is now clear that the so-called Broad-based Government is a Blood-Based Government whose engine is powered by the blood of GenZs. It was formed after the blood of young people was splashed in the streets, and it continues to survive on this. The beneficiaries are quiet as the young people get brutally murdered.