Revealed: Albert Ojwang was tortured and strangled to death

Prosector Gikui Gichuhi during the Albert Ojwang murder trial. [Kamau Muthoni, Standard]

The late Albert Ojwang was beaten up with a blunt object and strangled to death, the Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga has said.

Ingonga on Monday told a Kibra court that evidence gathered indicates the teacher was killed through assault, which was planned.

According to Ingonga, in a bid to hide the evidence, the CCTV at Nairobi’s Central Police Station was deleted and the Digital Video Recording machine formatted.

During the first day of the hearing on Monday, Ingonga told the court that evidence shows Ojwang’s death was not an accident but a planned and deliberate plot to kill him.

Prosecutors led by Gikui Gichuhi, Duncan Ondimu and Jalson Makori in their opening statements further told the presiding Judge Diana Kavedza that Ojwang never hit his head as was alleged.

Prosecutor Duncan Ondimu during the murder trial of late Albert Ojwang. [Muthoni Kamau, Standard]

“Medical evidence will establish that Albert Ojwang died from blunt force head injuries, neck compression and multiple injuries sustained over his body, injuries that are wholly inconsistent with any suggestion that he merely struck his own head against a wall,” the prosecutors said.

At the same time, data of interest to the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA), which was to tell what transpired while Ojwang was detained, had been deleted and the machine formatted.

The first prosecution witness Aloni Okwako told the court that he was called by his employer to rush to the station and found IPOA officers waiting for him.

He said that he was led to the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) office where he found the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) had been disconnected and was not working.

Ojwang, who had travelled to Migori County to visit family in 2025, was arrested by officers reportedly linked to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations over a social media post authorities described as "derogatory."

He was taken to Nairobi and detained at the Nairobi Central Police Station.

Prosector Gikui Gichuhi reading the DVR machine’s serial number to High Court Judge Diana Kavedza during the Albert Ojwang murder trial. [Kamau Muthoni, Standard]

Police claimed he died by suicide after injuring himself while alone in a cell.

"He was rushed to the hospital after what we think was an attempted suicide. He had injured himself in the head and was rushed to the hospital, where he died. He did not die here in custody," said Nairobi Central Police boss Stephen Okal.

However, a postmortem conducted on Tuesday, June 10, at City Mortuary by five pathologists contradicted that account, ruling out suicide and confirming that the injuries were not self-inflicted.

"There were serious injuries to the head. There were also features of neck compression and multiple soft tissue injuries that were spread all over the body. These are injuries that are externally inflicted and are consistent with assault," said Dr Benard Midiai, the lead pathologist.

Pathologists said Ojwang died from head trauma, neck compression and widespread soft tissue injuries. Samples were collected for further forensic testing.