Murkomen should resign over death of Albert Ojwang' - Diplomacy Analyst Hashi

Speaking to Citizen TV on Monday, Hashi opined that no top State officer has made an address over the appalling matter, raising questions on trusting security bodies with the safety of citizens.

"The Minister of Internal Affairs, the Police Commissioner should have been there. When this happens to a citizen in this way then all our lives are in danger," he said.

"The Minister of Internal Security should be out today to tell this country what happened or he should just vacate his office and leave because we do not know what's going on in this country anymore."

Ojwang' was picked up by police officers in Kakot, Homa Bay County on Saturday afternoon, who said they were probing him over the post he allegedly made on X.

They later took him to Nairobi and detained him at the Central Police Station, where he was found dead by his family, who visited on Sunday.

“We awaited his arraignment in court on Monday, so we can follow up the case from there. But today, his father who came to follow up after the arrest, informed me his son was dead. It is quite unfortunate,” the family's lawyer told reporters outside the police station.

They said police told them Albert’s body had been taken to City Mortuary.

“One does not deserve to lose their life; there is the law and we expected the boy to be processed normally and charged, then if found guilty, punished according to the law,” the lawyer added.

Meshack Opiyo, Albert’s father, broke down as he narrated how his only child was arrested at their home while having lunch with the family after returning from the farm.

Opiyo said officers at Central Police Station told him his son died in hospital from self-inflicted injuries after hitting himself against the wall.

A police report claims that the incident was filed at the Central Police Station as suicide, after an officer on a routine visit to the cell Ojwang' was locked in found him “with blood oozing from his head.”

Police added that preliminary investigations showed that Ojwang', who was booked in for the offence of false publication, sustained head injuries “by hitting his head severally against the wall inside the cell.”

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has interdicted all police officers who were on duty at the Central police station when Ojwang’ booked. 

In a statement, the National Police Service (NPS) said the interdiction is to allow for an impartial investigation at the station by the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA). 

The incident has sparked public uproar, as most online users strongly condemned the sudden death, calling for expeditious probe.