The death of Juliet Wangai Kariuki while in custody has placed a harsh spotlight on the National Police Service, and more specifically, on its spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga.
His attempt to explain away her death with a carefully worded press statement has done little to calm the situation. In fact, it has added fuel to a fire that’s been building for a while now, one of distrust, denial, and outright cover-up whenever someone dies at the hands of the state.
Muchiri Nyaga’s statement, delivered on July 14, 2025, was not only tone-deaf, but appeared more concerned with protecting the image of the police rather than addressing the gravity of a young woman dying under their watch.
Nyaga claimed Juliet was in good health when she was processed at Nanyuki Law Courts, brushing over the fact that just three days later, she died behind bars.
He offered the usual round of condolences, followed by vague promises of accountability that Kenyans have heard many times before.
His statement echoed a pattern Kenyans are tired of where the National Police Service distances itself from responsibility and speaks in cold, recycled language while families mourn loved ones who never made it home.
These are not just words; they are a deliberate attempt to bury truth under protocol.
Cyprian Is Nyakundi captured the mood perfectly when he responded to Nyaga’s statement with a blunt post: “I have read such a statement before.”
This wasn’t just a reaction it was a direct indictment of the routine lies Kenyans have come to expect whenever police are caught up in a death.
Nyaga’s role in this should not be softened. He didn’t just mislead the public he insulted the intelligence of an entire nation by pretending that reading from the same old script would somehow erase Juliet’s death.
Instead of addressing the real questions like why Juliet fell ill in custody, what medical attention she received, and what conditions she was held in Nyaga chose to fall back on legal jargon and shallow deflection.
His job might be to speak for the police, but he has become a face of denial, a barrier between the truth and the public.
His statement had no mention of possible investigations into the conduct of prison or police officers, no urgency, and no sense of moral responsibility. Just a bland press release trying to sanitize a young woman’s suspicious death.
The truth is that Juliet’s case didn’t need a press release it needed justice. And Nyaga’s failure to confront that reality head-on exposes just how deep the rot goes.
When a spokesperson becomes a shield for impunity instead of a voice for clarity and truth, the system is not just broken it is dangerous.
Juliet’s death should not be another file silently closed in an office. And Muchiri Nyaga should know that Kenyans are no longer buying the carefully packaged press releases.
