Foul play? Death of witness in Albert Ojwang murder case casts shadow over trial

Fresh questions emerge after the death of key witness Stephen Maina Nderitu in the Albert Ojwang murder case. [Courtesy, Standard]

Questions have emerged over the death of Corporal Stephen Maina Nderitu, a key prosecution witness in the murder case of teacher Albert Ojwang.

Nderitu had been lined up as a witness against his former boss, Samson Kiprotich Talam, and his colleagues- police constables James Mukwana, Peter Kimani, John Ngige Gitau, also known as Kinara, Gin Ammitou Abwayo, alias Gilbeys, and Brian Mwaniki Njue.

They are accused of killing teacher Albert Ojwang after he was detained at the station following a complaint by the Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat.

From Nderitu’s statement, seen by The Standard, he was to corroborate the story told by a protected witness codenamed Dan, who had been tasked with tampering with the video evidence from cameras installed at the station.

The 54-year-old police officer, who was attached to the station's records office, collapsed and died at his home in Nairobi last Monday, hours after leaving work.

An autopsy report cited acute ulcers, cardiac arrest, and depression as the causes of death.

Questions have, however, emerged about why Nderitu was not put under witness protection given his explosive statement that was to form part of evidence to tie up claims that there was an attempt to tamper with the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) camera footage.

On Thursday, the Witness Protection Agency denied that Nderitu was under their protection, stating: "He was an IPOA witness, not a protected witness. He wasn't in the protection program as it has been reported."

The revelation raises serious questions about why Nderitu, a key witness who was the only person who saw the CCTV camera footage being tampered with, was not placed under witness protection, even as the very person who allegedly tampered with the video evidence, the technician codenamed Dan, was himself admitted into the witness protection program.

Further questions arise over the timing of Nderitu's statement, which was recorded on June 18, 2025, eleven days after Ojwang died in police custody on June 7, 2025.

If his testimony was so crucial that it had to be recorded later after other witnesses had already given their statements, why was he not immediately placed under witness protection? The delay in recording his statement, and the subsequent failure to protect him, has raised concerns about the handling of a witness whose evidence was central to the prosecution's case.

His death throws a dark cloud over the ongoing prosecution of former Central Police Station Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Samson Kiprotich Talaam and five co-accused, police constables James Mukhwana, Peter Kimani, John Ngige Gitau (also known as Kinara), Gin Ammitou Abwao (alias Gilbeys), and Brian Mwaniki Njue.

(L) Former central police station OCS Samson Talaam, John Mukhwana, Peter Kimani, John Ngige Gitau, Gin Ammitou Abwao and Brian Mwaniki at the Kibera Law Courts on July 21, 2026. INSET: Corporal Stephen Maina Nderitu, a key prosecution witness in Ojwang’s murder case. [File, Standard]

In court, the protected witness told the court that he was a technician who installed the CCTV at Central.

He narrated that a police officer, codenamed AA, called him to say that there was work at the Central Police Station.

“I went there, and I found the person who called me in his office. He directed me to the OCS office on the first floor, and when I got there, It was me, AA and the OCS. I was told that I needed to retrieve footage from the Digital Video Recorder (DVR),” Dan told High Court Judge Diana Kavedza during the hearing.

He continued: “They gave me specific dates, June 6 and 7, 2025.

I was told to delete the footage for two days; instead, we formatted the hard disk. I went to the main menu, storage, disk manager and marked the hard disk, then formatted.”

He further informed the court that he had earlier installed the entire system and had the password.

“Before formatting, I checked whether there was recorded data. I looked at the recorded dates, and there was footage. I did not look at the footage, but they also did not look at it. The DVR has two hard disks. I had opened the DVR; the upper case and one hard disk were hanging while the other was attached. It took around three or four minutes. The OCS paid me Sh3,000,” continued Dan.

He added that on June 9, he was again called by AA and this time was directed not to bring a hard disk and should not wear a reflector jacket.

Dan stated that he got to Central at around 8 am and they asked for the hard disk, which he did not have at the time. The court heard that he went back and brought two three-terabyte Western Digital disks.

“The witness further narrated that he was paid Sh20,000 cash for the two disks,” he testified.

This is where Nderitu came in. In his statement, Nderitu stated that Dan came to the office.

He said Dan had known him since he was in the team that installed the CCTV in 2024.

“Dan went into the OCS’s office for a few minutes, after which he and the OCS came to the door,” recalled Nderitu, adding that Talam allegedly informed him that Dan would bring a hard disk, adding that he knew where to keep them.

“He (Talam) asked Dan, ‘na unaenda na nini? (What means what will you use?) ... He replied he would take a motorbike outside the station. He left, and the OCS went back to the office,” the officer continued.

Nderitu said that the protected witness came back a few minutes before 8.00 hours and headed straight back to Talam’s office.

He further said that the technician was there for a few minutes. “He was there when I went into the office to access the safe since I needed to give out cash to an officer who was going to court,” he stated, adding that he found his boss near the safe and Dan working on the DVR.

Nderitu also claimed that Dan perched on top of some cartons to enable him to access the machine, which was mounted on the wall.

As he was opening the safe, he said he heard his boss tell Dan not to bother changing anything, as he had allegedly talked to the police lawyer who said that they should remain untampered.

According to Nderitu, Dan, in his response, informed Talam that he had already purchased them and could not be returned to the shop.

Nderitu also alleged that the hard disks were in a blue bag, placed on top of the OCS’s table and were near where Dan was working.

“The OCS asked Dan how much he had bought the hard disks for, and he said he had bought them at Sh10,000 each. I went back to my office. After a few minutes, the OCS came out. He told me Kijana anamalizia hapo, shika pesa hizi umepee (The young man is almost done; get this money and hand it to him). In about a minute, Dan came to my office. I gave him his cash,” continued Nderitu.

Dan then allegedly pressed him about payment for boda boda fare, and he directed him to head back to the OCS, which he did.

The officer stated that the OCS then came back after 20 minutes, after which he stayed indoors for about 30 minutes. According to Nderitu, it was then the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, his deputies Lagat and Gilbert Masengeli, and the then Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) chair Isaac Hassan (currently a Court of Appeal Judge), who were ushered by Talam to the Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) office, and he then joined them for a press briefing.

After the police bosses and media left, he said the OCS allegedly came back to his office and called the officers who were within the station when the incident happened; they allegedly locked themselves in and recorded their statements.

At around 10.30 hours, Nderitu explained that two officers from IPOA showed up and he urged them to wait for Talam as he was engaged.

It was then, he said, that the officers asked him about the technician. Nderitu said he tasked AA to assist them since she had Dan's number.

Dan had told the court that he was called by AA to inform him that she had given his number to IPOA. The authority's officers contacted him.

It was then that he learned that someone had died at Central. He narrated that AA also asked if he had recorded the conversation between them.

He asserted that she was worried. Dan stated he was arrested on June 13, 2025, but subsequently released. AA also testified. The witness stated that she worked with Inspector Talam and was at the Station’s records office.

The officer narrated that she reported at 5 am to give radio call batteries, which were at the OCS and records office.

“I found that the records office lights were on and the main entrance was open,” AA testified, adding that she went ahead to open the records office.

The officer then went to collect the other batteries from the OCS office and found him seated. The court heard that Talam inquired whether she had heard ‘maneno’ and asked what it was about.

According to her, the police boss told her that ‘mahabusu’ had died. She claimed that the file indicated that a suicide had happened. However, the officer had doubts. “I asked where the cell centre was when this happened. What will PC Kimani say?” She paused. The witness added that later Talam asked her to call the person who installed the CCTV camera. “I obtained his number when he came to install the CCTV camera. I had called him on two other occasions, and the second time, I called him to install extra cameras. He told me he was still sleeping. I told the OCS, who told me to tell him to take an Uber; he’ll pay by himself,” she continued. She explained that after she watched the CCTV and identified two persons, one along them who was identified by Talam as her colleague Mukhwana.