Detectives are looking for at least two police officers for processing over the brutal murder of 31-year-old teacher Albert Ojwang.
The detectives who had
been asked by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority to trace and arrest
at least three police officers and two civilians said they were unable to find
their colleagues.
“They have switched off
their mobile phones and we can't find them for now. We are, however, optimistic to
find them for justice,” said one official aware of an operation that had gone
on since Thursday.
They want them to surrender.
The wanted officers had recorded their statements with IPOA earlier.
The developments came as some
of the 17 police officers so far questioned in the saga went back to IPOA and
changed their story.
They told the IPOA team
they wanted to change their narrative and stated further on what they knew about
the murder.
The cops, according to insiders, said the murder happened at the Central police cells.
The police were
looking for a riot baton that was used in the murder.
At least 23 people, including 17 police officers, have been questioned.
The others are civilians who
are deemed crucial and witnesses to the murder.
The detectives, backed by IPOA, arrested a technician who installed a CCTV camera system at the station.
The technician is the
same one who was called to delete and format the system after the murder of
Ojwang.
He has admitted his involvement in the mission and added he was paid Sh3,000 for the work.
A hunt for the missing suspects was ongoing Friday morning.
A police constable was arrested in connection with the murder of Ojwang.
The constable claimed he was off duty when the incident happened on June 7.
He was apprehended by officers from the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) of the National Police Service and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
IAU joined the probe on Thursday to complement that of IPOA.
The IAU has started a probe and has summoned senior officers for grilling at Central Police Station when the incident happened.
Ojwang was arrested by DCI officers in Homa Bay County over a controversial social media post and was transferred to Central Police Station in Nairobi.
Hours later, he was taken to Mbagathi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to the medical officer on duty that day, Ojwang was brought into the facility at 2.00 am.
A report from the hospital indicated that the late Ojwang's face was swollen, with his body and limbs marred by multiple bruises.
Blood, a chilling detail, was oozing from the back of his head, his mouth, and his eyes.
The back of his head, the parieto-occipital region, had a cut. His entire body was cold to the touch.
He was unresponsive. An autopsy confirmed he was assaulted and strangled. IPOA has confirmed that three suspects have been linked to the death of Ojwang.
In a closed-door session with members of the National Security and
Administration Committee, Ipoa chairperson Isack Hassan said the authority had
identified at least three individuals believed to be involved in Ojwang’s
death.
IPOA said Ojwang was murdered at the station’s cells, where he had been detained in isolation.
Reporting to the plenary of the National Assembly ahead of the budget reading, committee chairperson Gabriel Tongoyo disclosed the developments.
“Ipoa is seeking to arrest three suspects as we speak and has requested the assistance of the Inspector General of Police to effect the arrests,” Tongoyo said on June 12.
He told the House that the authority had made significant progress in
uncovering the truth behind Ojwang’s death and assured members that justice
would be served.
IPOA chairperson Isaac Hassan told the National Assembly’s Security Committee that digital video recorder (DVR) logs showed the discs were changed and formatted on June 8, 2025, at 07:23:29 and 07:23:48 hours.
Hassan said the move was part of a well-planned scheme to erase surveillance footage linked to the events leading to Ojwang’s death while in police custody.
“Somebody called someone to come and switch off a particular section, but he said he could only shut down the entire system,” Hassan told the committee.
He also disclosed that the CCTV hard disks had been replaced in what appeared to be a calculated scheme to conceal evidence.
“The DVR logs indicated that the operating discs had been changed and formatted
on June 8, 2025, at 07:23:48 hours and 07:23:29 hours,’’ said Hassan.
Inspector General of police Douglas Kanja said Ojwang was booked at the Central Police Station under the Occurrence Book number 136/7/6/2025 at 21:35 hours on June 7, 2025.
