CCTV evidence could uncover final hours of Albert Ojwang

Original CCTV footage from Central Police Station is set to be used as crucial evidence in the murder trial of former OCS Samson Taalam, officer James Mukhwana, and other co-accused, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has revealed.

The footage is expected to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the controversial death of blogger Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody on the night of June 8, 2025.

This emerged yesterday during a pre-trial hearing when IPOA lawyer Mercy Wanjiru told Justice Diana Kavedva that the footage would be vital in determining the events that led to Ojwang’s death while in police custody.

"Your Honour, we intend to rely on the station’s CCTV footage as critical evidence in this case. We are yet to receive flash disks from Taalam and his co-accused to enable sharing of the footage and have the accused person and lawyers review it ahead of the hearing," said Wanjiru.

The lawyer also confirmed that IPOA had planned to call 28 witnesses. “Apart from the CCTV footage, we will also rely on 28 witness testimony and other material evidence, which has already been supplied to the defence,” she said.

Chief Inspector Taalam, through his lawyer Stanley Kang’ahi, assured the court that he would submit his flash disk to IPOA offices by close of business yesterday.

Police Constable Mukhwana who was the daytime cell sentry at the station on the fateful day confirmed through his lawyer that he would also provide his flash disk containing the CCTV footage. 

The court heard that some accused persons, including police officer Peter Kimani, who was in charge of the night shift cell sentry at the time of the incident, and civilians Gin Ammitou Abwao and Brian Mwaniki Njue, did not have money to purchase a flash disks each to submit to enable being supplied with the footage.

Justice Kavedva directed IPOA to purchase flash disks for Kimani, Abwao, and Njue and share the footage with them to ensure a fair trial.

“We cannot set a date for hearing without that footage being shared to the accused persons and their lawyers,” the Judge said, emphasising the crucial role the CCTV plays in uncovering Ojwang’s final hours.

The revelation of use of the CCTV footage comes just six months after IPOA Senior Assistant Director of Investigations Abdirahman Jibril earlier informed the court that they established that the station’s DVR had been tampered with hours after Ojwang’s death.

“The DVR power cable was disconnected. Logs indicated that the operating discs were changed and formatted between 07:28:43 and 07:32:29 hours,”   Jibril  told the court.

The senior investigator told court that Taalam, along with other officers, had hired a technician to interfere with the CCTV in an attempt to conceal evidence.

In addition, Justice Kavedva instructed the prosecution to scale down the number of witnesses from 28 to 24 to prevent repetitive testimony.

“I urge the Investigating Officer and IPOA to review the police file and evidence once again and scale down the number of witnesses to 24 to avoid repetitive testimony,” she advised.

The Judge scheduled the next mention date for January 27,2026, stressing the urgency of the case, saying: “This is a case of public interest, and I will have to hear it urgently, back-to-back from Monday to Friday.”

She also revealed plans of seeking permission from the Chief Justice Marth Koome to have the case heard and determined over four months, even during court vacation periods, warning both prosecution and defense against causing unnecessary delays.

Taalam, Mukhwana, and four others have since denied any involvement in Ojwang’s death and are currently held at Nairobi Remand Prison.

Taalam has since claimed that on the material day, being the Officer Commanding Central Police Station, was not on duty when the deceased was booked at the station.

The six accused were ordered to remain in custody until January 27, 2026, after the High Court denied them bail on September 10, pending testimony from key witnesses.

In her bail ruling, Justice Kavedva cited the scale of public unrest following Ojwang’s death and the potential influence of the accused officers as compelling reasons to keep them in custody.

“Despite their interdiction, they still wield authority and influence through their training, service connections, and standing in the community. This concern was consistently raised by the deceased’s family and is supported by the prosecution,” she said.

Ojwang, 31, died on June 8, 2025, while in custody at Central Police Station.

Police initially claimed he sustained self-inflicted injuries after allegedly defaming the Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Langat, but a post-mortem revealed he died from physical assault.