Nancy Odindo, a TUKO.co.ke journalist, has over four years of experience covering Kenyan politics, news, and features for digital and print media.

Central Police Station OCS Samson Talaam has been arraigned over his alleged involvement in the murder of blogger Albert Ojwang, who died while in police custody at the Nairobi Central Station.

Talaam was named the prime suspect after allegedly providing false information regarding the cause of Ojwang’s death.

His account was later discredited when a postmortem report contradicted the initial police narrative, prompting DCI boss Amin Mohamed to warn Kenyans against trusting the OCS’s version of events.

Appearing before the Milimani Law Courts on Monday, June 16, Talaam was represented by lawyer Danstan Omari, who vigorously defended his client during a heated cross-examination of Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) officer Abdiraham Jibril.

Omari questioned Jibril on whether he was aware that DCI Amin had publicly referred to Talaam as a person of interest and claimed that Talaam had voluntarily presented himself to DCI headquarters in the presence of his advocate.

"I put it to you that after the DCI mentioned Talaam on that day at 2pm, he presented himself to the DCI headquarters in the presence of his advocate. Are you aware of that? And the DCI authorised his officers together with the advocate to present the respondent to IPOA headquarters," asked Omari.

However, Jibril repeatedly declined to respond to issues not contained in his affidavit, insisting that he would only answer questions based on the evidence he had formally submitted.

"If you say so. Counsel, please ask me what is in my affidavit. Your honour, I am not going to answer anything outside my affidavit," Jibril responded, and raised issues why Omari constantly 'put' during the examination.

Jibril stated that the claim that OCS was not near the station on the day in question was not in his affidavit. IPOA also did not disclose materials related to the accusations against Talaam.

In his defence, Talaam maintained that he was off duty on the day of the incident and had left his deputy in charge of the station’s operations.

Despite this, IPOA requested that Talaam be detained for 21 days to allow further investigations.

Preliminary findings indicated that Talaam was in continuous communication with officers allegedly involved in the case and was linked to individuals who tampered with CCTV footage to conceal critical evidence.

Investigations revealed that the CCTV cameras at the station were fully operational at the time of Ojwang’s death but were later tampered with hours after the incident, with power to the system deliberately disconnected.

A technician who allegedly deleted the footage was arrested and confessed to being paid KSh 3,000 to carry out the task.

The case has intensified public scrutiny and demands for police accountability as the search for justice for Ojwang continues.

James Mukhwana claims Talaam, Lagat ordered Ojwang's torture

Meanwhile, amid ongoing investigations, Police Constable James Mukhwana, who was on duty when Ojwang died, revealed that he acted on orders to have the blogger assaulted.

Mukhwana stated that DIG Eliud Lagat, via Talaam, instructed him to ensure Ojwang was severely beaten, requiring hospitalisation but not resulting in death.

He also admitted to lying to IPOA detectives to cover for his senior officers but was later overwhelmed by guilt after realising he was being used as a scapegoat.

Source: TUKO.co.ke