Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

- Former police spokesperson Charles Owino has cast doubt on the National Police Service’s official explanation for the death of 26-year-old blogger and teacher Albert Omondi Ojwang.

The young blogger was found with fatal head injuries while in custody at Nairobi’s Central Police Station.

Ojwang, who was working as a teacher in Voi, had travelled to Migori to visit family when officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) allegedly arrested him for publishing false information online about a senior police officer.

From Homa Bay, Ojwang was reportedly driven to Nairobi and booked at Central Police Station on Saturday, June 7.

The next day, his father was informed that Albert had been rushed to Mbagathi Hospital after sustaining self-inflicted injuries in his cell. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

During an interview with Ramogi TV on Monday, June 9, Owino said the public deserves clear answers about what happened, especially given the suspicious circumstances surrounding Ojwang’s death.

He questioned how authorities could claim the young man had fatally hit his head against a wall if, as police have stated, he was alone in the cell at the time.

Owino added that such a claim, without any supporting witnesses or evidence like CCTV footage, only raises more red flags.

"What has happened is very bad and disturbing. We want they do the best post-mortem possible. What was disturbing us is that we heard somebody saying he hit his head on the wall. So we were asking ourselves, this cell, we are also being told he was alone.

If he was alone in the cell, who saw him hitting his head on the wall? If it is true, there was someone who said he hit his head, then they're the ones who spoiled this case more than anybody else. If he was with other cellmates, they could back the story. There are questions that must be answered," said the former spokesperson.

Owino also pressed for clarity on whether the Central Police Station is equipped with surveillance systems that could show who accessed the cell that night.

The former police mouthpiece stated that if anybody entered the cell at night, then that would be Ojwang's killer.

"What I don't know is if the Central police station has CCTV so that we know if there was someone who entered this cell at night. Because if we find someone entered the cell at night then that is the person who killed this young man," he added.

In a related report, investigators reported that Ojwang’ was booked at Nairobi’s Central Police Station at 2:35 am and died just over an hour later at 3:45am, according to the station’s Occurrence Book.

They said his body bore head injuries, swelling and bruises, and that blood‑stained clothing, including a black top and white Crocs, plus a wet maroon sweater, jug, tumbler and cup were found in the cell, with blood smeared on walls and floor.

IPOA said it had suspended six officers, launched an inquiry and was reviewing CCTV footage from eight cameras to reconstruct his final hour.

Source: TUKO.co.ke