Cells of death: Why you ought to be very worried when arrested

A view of the Nairobi Central police station in the central business district serving the Nairobi city environs on June 20, 2025. [David Gchuru, Standard] Kenyan police cells have become death chambers. This indictment from the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (Imlu) is a grim irony - the very cells meant to be the safest points in the justice chain have turned into a suspect's worst nightmare. Imlu, a human rights organisation dedicated to exposing police brutality, reports that at least 17 people have died in police custody between 2024 and today. The revelation lays bare shocking details of how Kenyans in sound health walk into police hands alive but never walk out. In all these cases, not a single police officer has been arrested, suspended, or even publicly reprimanded. The 17 deaths documented by Imlu occurred in police stations, remand facilities, and prisons across at least ten counties, including Nairobi, Nakuru, Murang'a, Siaya, Mombasa, Kakamega, and Busia. According to Imlu, post-mortem examinations conducted by its network of pathologists revealed harrowing patterns of injury and neglect. "Causes of death range from cardiorespiratory failure, a cardiogenic shock due to multiple injuries, suggesting different things that include physical assault, asphyxiation, and hanging, in some cases pointing towards possible staging of suicide. Others, such as severe head injuries with brain contusions and subdural haematomas, indicate repeated blunt force trauma and lack of timely medical care," said Grace Wangechi, the Executive Director of Imlu. For ages, Kenya seems to have openly tolerated this brutality while shunning accountability and the rule of law, this, as families of victims caught in the fray agonise and mourn helplessly as the State looks away. "Kenya is witnessing and has witnessed a deeply troubling rise in deaths occurring in police custody, a stark reflection of systemic failings in the country's justice and accountability mechanisms," said Wangechi. Among the 17 is the case of Albert Ojwang, a 30-year-old teacher and blogger, a death that rattled the country and spilled the anger of Kenyans into streets in June this year. On June 7, 2025, Ojwang had returned home to Kakoth village in Homa Bay County to visit his parents. His mother had served him ugali and sukuma wiki for lunch. As he was about to begin eating, police officers on a motorbike arrived at the compound. They told the family they were arresting him for publishing false information about a senior official on social media. They took him first to Mawego police station, then transported him 350 kilometres away, to Central Police Station in Nairobi. Less than twenty-four hours later, he was dead. Immense pressure from rights groups, the media, and the public pushed Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Eliud Lagat to step aside to pave way for investigations. After days of what many saw as ping-pong games meant to appease the public, Lagat, who was at the centre of scrutiny, slipped back into office - his return almost casual but expected. When Julia Wangui, the daughter of a local chief in Laikipia County, was arrested during the Saba Saba demonstrations and later remanded at Nanyuki GK Prison, she was expected to await her court date in safety but this not how the script went. Many theories were floated by both the police and prison authorities on how she might have died but her haunting demise shocked the nation and brought much shame to the police. To date the family has publicly rejected the post-mortem findings released afterwards as false and lacking transparency. Thirty-year-old Paul Njuguna from Gatundu South also died while being held at Kiganjo Police Station. He had been arrested on October 9 on claims of being in possession of bhang. Police later claimed he swallowed the bhang wrapped in a paper bag and died as a result. However, according to witnesses, they saw police beating him. According to the Imlu executive director, there is no independent coroner to establish the real truth in such cases because the National Coroner Service, although enacted in law, has not been operationalised. "Despite the existence of the National Coroner Services Act, which mandates the establishment of an independent agency to investigate unclear or reportable deaths, its operationalisation has been delayed due to administrative gaps, notably the absence of a Cabinet Secretary for Justice, as stipulated in the law," said Wangechi. There is also the case of Eric Tonui Koros, a 40-year-old boda boda rider from Solai in Nakuru County. He was arrested on October 7 for failing to pay a debt of Sh8,000. According to his family, at around 8pm, the exact same day of his arrest, officers visited the family and told them Eric had died in the cells. He left behind a wife and five children. Whether he was assaulted, whether he was denied medical attention, whether he collapsed, the public does not know, because the same police that arrested him are the ones handling the investigations into his death. For ages, police cells have carried secrets behind iron doors, and more often when such deaths occur, they are simply branded as suicide, sudden illness, or even "fell and hit the wall". Families of the dead have been left to wander from one office to another chasing shadows in the name of seeking justice that never comes their way. Sometimes investigators cede to public pressure to open files that only end up gathering dust. In Migori, Alan Kamau Kimani died inside a police post. The cause of death according to a post-mortem report, was asphyxia, which refers to loss of oxygen. He was arrested on September 25, for allegedly cutting down trees. Witnesses in the postmortem room say one officer who had demanded Sh15,000 before Kimani died was seen sneaking into the room and questioning the pathologist and investigators, only to hurry out when his identity was revealed. Then there is the case of Samson Ouma Wanda in Kitale. He was arrested in a police swoop on a Sunday, September 7, taken to court on Monday 8 and then back to the station. Family claimed Ouma told them he was seriously beaten at the station before being transferred to Kitale Main Prison.Simon Warui, 26, went missing from Umoja in Nairobi on September 14. Days later, the family was told he was being held at the Central Police Station in Mombasa. As the family travelled to the Coast to see him, they were told upon arrival that he had already died. Police claim he tried to climb the wall in the washroom and fell. The family disputed this police narrative. In June last year, panic hit informal settlements of Kawangware after protests broke out following the death of 25-year-old Hussein Koropisa Bacho at the Kawangware Police Post, Nairobi. The police, however, maintain that Bacho was first attacked by a mob, then rescued and detained by officers before being taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital where he died shortly after arrival. His family disputes this account, pointing to contradictions: They were first told Bacho had used a T-shirt to commit suicide in custody, then later that he had been a victim of mob justice, and they say they observed a ring-like mark on his neck inconsistent with the suicide narrative.Prof James Lin says forensic investigation into custodial death must not be based on statements by officers but based on measurements, photographs, tissue examination, bruising patterns, time sequencing of injuries and internationally accepted standards. Lin is the Istanbul Protocol Programme Coordinator at the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), who is in the country for a three-day forensic training for pathologists and lawyers. "We can ensure that all appropriate examinations are conducted, that the rights of families are upheld, and that accountability becomes science-based," he said. Prof Djordje Alempijevic said what Kenya is facing is part of a global struggle in countries where mistrust exists between citizens and the state. He stated that forensic science can play a crucial role because it creates reproducible truth, meaning one expert can verify another's findings, eliminating speculation or manipulation. He also noted that Kenya's documentation level is below Minnesota Protocol standard.

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