How CCTV Footage Was Deleted in Ojwang’s Death as IPOA Arrests First Suspect

Nairobi, June 12 – Police Constable James Mukhwana of Nairobi’s Central Police Station has been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of 31-year-old teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang. His arrest, by officers from the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) this evening, comes just hours after IPOA told Parliament that Ojwang’s death in custody was followed by a deliberate and coordinated cover-up involving deletion of CCTV systems to suppress evidence. Appearing before the National Assembly National Administration and Internal Security committee, IPOA Chairperson Issack Hassan laid bare a series of actions that suggest a calculated attempt to obstruct justice.

Ojwang, a teacher and father of one, died under suspicious circumstances while in custody at Central Police Station in Nairobi. He had been arrested by DCI officers in Homa Bay County over an alleged controversial social media post targeting Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat, and was later transferred to the Nairobi station. Just hours after his transfer, police claimed that Ojwang was rushed to Mbagathi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

However, according to the medical officer on duty, he arrived at the facility at 2:00 a.m., already unresponsive. The hospital report painted a chilling picture saying that Ojwang’s face was swollen, his body and limbs bore multiple bruises, and blood was oozing from his mouth, eyes, and the back of his head, which had a visible cut on the parieto-occipital region. His body was cold to the touch.

While police initially claimed he had committed suicide by hitting his head against a cell wall, a post-mortem conducted on June 10 contradicted this account. The autopsy concluded that Ojwang died from blunt force trauma to the head, neck compression, and deep tissue bruising which indicated clear signs of torture. These findings have further fueled public outrage and raised serious questions about the conduct of police officers at Central Police Station.

IPOA’s preliminary investigation now confirms the station’s CCTV system, which could have recorded the last hours of Ojwang’s life, was tampered with. Power cables were disconnected, and the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) logs show the system’s disks were formatted between 7:28 and 7:32 a.m. on June 8, the very morning Ojwang was found dead.

In a chilling revelation, Hassan told parliament that a technician was contacted to delete a specific portion of the footage. However, the technician told investigators that partial deletion wasn’t possible, so the entire recording was wiped.

“The CCTV footage was tampered with on the day in question. Someone was called in to interfere with it,” Hassan told the Committee. “He was instructed to delete a section, but told them it couldn’t be done — he had to delete the entire recording.”

IPOA said the cover-up went further. Despite the gravity of the case, the National Police Service handed the investigation to a junior officer, bypassing both the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Internal Affairs Unit—two organs mandated to independently probe such deaths.

IPOA has so far interviewed 23 witnesses, including 17 police officers on duty that night. Two civilians linked to the case are also under investigation. All officers on the night shift have been interdicted, and the Deputy Inspector General of Police is expected to be summoned.

IPOA Chair Hassan told Parliament committee that while they anticipate systemic police resistance, he said the agency was ready and would not be used to sanitize any officer. He added they are confident and have collected enough forensic and testimonial evidence, including DNA samples, blood traces, and tampered DVR logs and they would recommend prosecutions immediately they conclude the investigation.

“I want to assure the committee and through the committee to the public that IPOA is not going to be used as a fire extinguisher to extinguish all fires which are generating from police misconduct,” IPOA Chairperson stated. He requested to hold in camera part of the sessions due to the sensitive nature of the disclosures.

In back-to-back appearances before Parliament, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Director Mohamed Amin were at pains to explain the timeline surrounding the arrest and detention of Ojwang, whose death has received nationwide condemnation.

Testifying before the Senate on June 11, IG Kanja stated that Ojwang was booked at 21:35hrs on June 7. However, when the matter came before the National Assembly’s Administration and Internal Security Committee, fresh details emerged from the digital Occurrence Book (OB) indicating that Ojwang had actually been booked at 21:32hrs, under OB number 136-07-06. An additional OB entry made at 01:35hrs claimed that Ojwang was alone in a cell, “causing a disturbance” and kicking cell walls. Just four minutes later, at 01:39hrs, a follow-up OB entry recorded that Ojwang had been found unconscious and rushed to Mbagathi Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The committee pressed the top police bosses on this three-minute discrepancy between the digital OB and the IG’s Senate statement. Yet even more troubling was the contradiction in the date of arrest. While police records presented by both Kanja and Amin insist Ojwang was arrested on June 7, Ojwang’s father has consistently maintained that his son was picked up while having lunch the day before, on June 6.

These timeline inconsistencies, combined with revelations that CCTV footage was erased, the DVR logs formatted, and that a technician was instructed to delete surveillance video, have deepened concerns of a deliberate police cover-up. Committee members expressed alarm at the lack of clarity and apparent coordination failures between top security agencies. The mounting contradictions have cast serious doubt on the official version of events and raised new demands for independent investigations and prosecutions.