Kanja apologises for false police claims in Ojwang's death

Police Inspector General Douglas Kanja appearing before senate on June 11.[Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The Police Inspector General, Douglas Kanja, on Wednesday went through a rough time explaining to the senators the circumstances that led to Albert Ojwang’s death.

In most of the questions asked by the senators, the IG kept referring the members to wait for a report from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and other investigative units.

When asked why the police gave misleading information, alleging that Ojwang died by suicide, he claimed that he had clarified.

“That is the primary information that came from the same station, but in the subsequent press briefing that I did, that was rectified, and in fact, we can even be able to see clearly by the results of the investigations,” said Kanja.

The senators were not satisfied with the answer he gave, leading to altercations within the senate.

Kanja was then asked to apologise to the Senate and the whole country for issuing misleading information about Ojwang committing suicide by hitting his head on the wall while in custody.

He declined to answer, saying that IPOA should be given room to investigate the matter and give concrete answers.

But he later bowed to pressure from the members and said, “Going by the report that we have gotten from IPOA…I tender my apology on behalf of the National Police Service because of that information”.

Kanja vowed to take action on the officer who gave the misleading information after reviewing findings by IPOA.

“If we get to know the truth, the officers who issued the initial report that we relied upon, then they will have disciplinary proceedings as provided for by the Regulations, for providing incorrect information. So we are awaiting the outcome of the investigations of IPOA,” he noted.

On another question on the circumstances that led to Ojwang’s death, Kanja still referred the senators to IPOA for answers.

“These circumstances that led to the death of Ojwang are being investigated by IPOA. Let us give IPOA an opportunity so that they can quickly investigate and tell us openly exactly what really happened,” he said.

Kanja was also tasked to explain why Ojwang was transported from Homabay to Nairobi.

“DCI will answer very clearly on why Ojwang was transported from Homa Bay to Nairobi, but it is because the offence happened in Nairobi”.

The senators demanded answers on who tampered with the CCTV camera, the identity of officers who committed the crime and why Ojwang was booked in a cell alone.

Kanja could not answer the questions directly and kept urging the senators to wait for IPOA’s report.