Activist claims Ojwang’s social media accounts pulled down, police CCTV footage deleted
Speaking after a delayed post-mortem on Tuesday, activist Fred Ogola demanded that the state explain why Ojwang’s online platforms were taken over and why no surveillance footage exists.
It has now emerged that the social media accounts belonging to the late Albert Ojwang, who died in custody, were allegedly pulled down and CCTV footage at Central Police Station deleted, deepening suspicion over the circumstances of his death in police custody.
Speaking after a delayed post-mortem on Tuesday, activist Fred Ogola demanded that the state explain why Ojwang’s online platforms were taken over and why no surveillance footage exists.
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“They pulled down Ojwang’s social media — Twitter, Facebook, everything. The state has taken control of it. They must tell us why,” he told the media at the City Mortuary, Nairobi.
Ogola further revealed that efforts to obtain CCTV footage from the Central Police Station had hit a wall, with officials now saying the footage had either failed or had been deleted.
“We are being told the CCTV at Central Police wasn’t working. Actually, they were deleted. We are telling IPOA to get us the footage at all costs because we can’t negotiate about that,” he said.
Ojwang, a teacher based in Voi, had travelled to his rural home in Homa Bay before he was arrested on Friday and brought to Nairobi in the middle of the night.
Dead in hours
He was later booked at Central Police Station under the charge of false publication and was found dead hours later in his cell.
According to Ogola, the speed of action in Ojwang’s case, compared to the delays his family faced during the autopsy, paints a disturbing picture of how ordinary Kenyans are treated.
“When MPs die, things are done with speed and precision. But for common people like us, it takes too long. You have to know where you belong — you are not part of their priority,” he said.
He urged Kenyans to focus on the truth and justice rather than tribal divisions, warning against turning the case into an ethnic matter.
“Ojwang is a Kenyan. Losing a Kenyan is as painful as losing a Luo, Kisii, Kikuyu or Kalenjin. Let’s not bring tribal cards into this,” he said.
Ogola said the timeline of Ojwang’s last hours raises serious questions.
“Ojwang was taken live and kicking from his mother’s home in Homa Bay. By 9:30, he was being shaken; by 1:20, he was dead. That’s just a few hours,” he said.
Sequence of events
He also cast doubt on the reported sequence of events, questioning how Bagathi Hospital declared him dead on arrival without officially receiving him.
“If Mbagathi Hospital didn’t receive him, how did they declare him dead on arrival? There are one million questions,” Ogola said.
He called on all Kenyans with information to come forward and help make Ojwang’s case a turning point in the fight for accountability.
“We want this to be a landmark case. We don’t want it to be just against the police service. It must be against the specific person who committed the offence,” Ogola said.
Ogola added that the arrest was coordinated from Homa Bay, involving local officers who went to Ojwang’s home using motorcycles before transporting him to Nairobi.
“The OCS from Mawego Police Station went to Ojwang’s home and picked him up. They say he recorded a statement. But what statement did he record?” he asked.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority is investigating the incident, and several officers have been interdicted following public outcry.
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