The push for justice in the death of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang has grown even stronger after the Director of Public Prosecutions, Renson Ingonga, told the High Court that evidence gathered by investigators shows Ojwang was deliberately assaulted and killed while in police custody.
According to the prosecution, his death was not an accident, a medical emergency, or an act of self-harm as initially claimed. Instead, the state now says it was a planned killing carried out by people who were responsible for his safety.
For many Kenyans, these revelations confirm fears that there was an attempt to hide the truth. The prosecution told the court that Ojwang was beaten with a blunt object and strangled, and that efforts were allegedly made to destroy evidence, including the deletion of CCTV footage and the formatting of recording equipment at Nairobi Central Police Station.
These claims paint a disturbing picture of what happened during the final hours of a man who had entered police custody alive.Albert Ojwang was more than a blogger.
He was a teacher, a son, and a citizen whose rights should have been protected by the law.
His death has become a symbol of the growing concern over deaths and abuses that occur while people are under state custody. When a person is arrested, the state assumes full responsibility for their safety.
Any failure to protect that person is a serious matter. A deliberate killing inside a police station is even more alarming.
The court has already heard that several suspects, including former Central Police Station OCS Samson Talaam and others, are facing murder charges linked to the case.
The prosecution says it will present evidence showing how the assault was carried out and how attempts were allegedly made to conceal the crime.
Questions also continue to surround the circumstances that led to Ojwang’s arrest.
Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat was previously mentioned as the complainant whose report triggered the process that ended with Ojwang’s detention.
Lagat later stepped aside to allow investigations to proceed, while court petitions and public pressure have continued to demand accountability from all individuals whose actions may have contributed to the events that followed.
Now, attention has shifted to one critical demand: justice. Kenyans are calling for the arrest and prosecution of every person found to have planned, carried out, or covered up the killing.
The country cannot afford another case where responsibility is blurred and accountability delayed.
The evidence must be tested openly in court, and those found guilty must face the full force of the law.
Albert Ojwang’s family has waited long enough. Justice will not bring him back, but it can send a powerful message that no office, rank, or uniform places anyone above the law. If the evidence presented by the prosecution proves true, then the main culprits must be arrested, convicted, and punished.
Anything less would be a betrayal of justice and of the public trust that Kenya’s institutions are supposed to uphold.
