At least 14 cops grilled over murder of Albert Ojwang

At least 14 police officers have been grilled by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) detectives over the murder of Albert Ojwang while in custody. 

The officers include those from Nairobi’s Central Police Station and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

The group is among 18 that have been identified and summoned by the IPOA for questioning as part of an ongoing probe into the murder.

Ojwang was killed while in police custody on June 7 after his arrest from Homabay County over claims of false publication.

The murder has caused an uproar amid calls for accountability from all concerned parties.

The police officers who handled him were summoned to the IPOA offices in Nairobi to state what they knew about the death.

They spent the better part of Wednesday at the offices. Some came with lawyers while others came without any legal representation.

According to insiders, some police officers claimed Ojwang was already in critical condition when he was brought into the station.

They allege that they made efforts to save his life upon realizing his deteriorating state.

Those from DCI said he was in good state when he was handed over at the station at about 9.35 pm on Saturday.

The Officer Commanding Central Police Station, Samson Taalam who is at the centre of the probe has also denied any involvement in Ojwang’s alleged torture and subsequent death.

Taalam said he was only summoned after Ojwang had already been booked into custody.

He claimed that upon arrival, he found the suspect in poor health and took the initiative to rush him to hospital.

IPOA is expected to forward its findings to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), with recommendations on whether charges should be brought against the officers involved.

Taalam, through his lawyer Felix Keaton, has expressed willingness to cooperate fully with IPOA, saying he is committed to ensuring justice is served.

DCI boss Amin Mohammed had earlier said Talam should be the prime suspect in the saga.

Amin made the bold statement on Wednesday during a Senate grilling session on Ojwang's killing, which has sparked public outrage.

He noted that investigations have established that Taalam declined to book Ojwang when he was presented at the station, raising serious questions over his conduct and possible culpability.

“It has further been confirmed that before the booking, the report office personnel called the OCS, and unfortunately, it is being said that he (Taalam) declined to book the suspect,” Amin told the Senate.

“Taalam is the Officer Commanding Central Police Station, and from the totality of things, he should be treated as the prime suspect in the matter.”

This has put the station commander in the spot in the probe. 

Amin said Ojwang’ was transferred from Homa Bay to Central Police Station because the alleged offence was committed in Nairobi. 

IPOA has taken over the probe into the saga. DPP gave the authority seven days to forward the probe file to his office for action.

IPOA has revealed that the probe into the unexplained death of Albert Ojwang' has hit a snag because of missing key CCTV footage from the Officer Commanding Station's (OCS) office at the Central Police Station.

While appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, IPOA Vice Chair Anne Wanjiku noted that preliminary investigations into the murder showed that footage that would have aided in piecing together the events that occurred at the police station is missing, raising more questions into the murder.

Senators are now questioning why the CCTV footage is missing.

She added that the autopsy report on Ojwang's body, together with the missing footage, rules out the possibility of suicide as earlier reported by the police.

"CCTV systems at the OCS office had been interfered with, the postmortem conducted on June 10 revealed the cause of death as head injury due to blunt force trauma, neck compression and multiple subcutaneous bruises all over the body. They rule out the theory of suicide," she noted.

Wanjiku added that IPOA, as part of its pending tasks, has yet to forward the collected samples from the crime scene and the deceased's body for analysis.

IPOA will also collect medical records and results at Mbagathi Hospital, where Ojwang' was pronounced dead, record a statement of other potential witnesses and family members and a report for officers at the Central Police Station.

She also told Senators that Deputy Inspector General of police Eliud Lagat had made a complaint to the DCI on June 4, alleging that he suffered malicious publications on an X account with the username Pixel Pioneer.