The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) on Friday presented Mr James Mukhwana before a Nairobi court seeking to hold the police officer for 21 days as they conduct investigations into the death of teacher Albert Ojwang.
The authority informed senior principal magistrate Robinson Ondieki that Mr Mukhwana was at the cell sentry on the night when Ojwang’ was found unconscious inside the cell, at Central Police Station.
The mysterious death of teacher Albert Ojwang in a police cell has sparked widespread national outrage.
Photo credit: Pool | Nation
In an affidavit, Mr Abdirahman Jibril, a senior assistant director of investigations at IPOA, said the assault on Ojwang appeared to have been planned as the officer was in constant communication with persons in and away from the police station.
The investigating officer added that Mr Mukhwana kept briefing the said people, and there are chances that he and others were involved in the assault of Mr Ojwang.
“That preliminary investigations reveal that there is high likelihood that the respondent (Mukhwana), together with other persons who are at large organised for the tampering of CCTV to conceal what had transpired on the night of 7th and 8th June, 2025 when the deceased was brutally assaulted to death in order to mislead any subsequent investigations into the matter,” Mr Jibril said.
Mr Mukhwana, through lawyers Danstan Omari and Stanley Kinyanjui, opposed the application, saying there were no compelling reasons to deny him bail.
Mr Omari said instead of denying the police constable bail, the court can impose stringent bond terms to ensure he attends court and cooperates with the investigators.
IPOA added that all persons involved in the attempted cover-up are yet to be identified and arrested, hence the need for further investigations.
“There is a need for the applicant to retrieve CCTV data from the DVR tampered with, and therefore, further investigations are necessary,” he said.
The authority said it commenced investigations into the matter immediately, and preliminary investigations showed that on June 4, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) received a complaint from the Deputy Inspector General of police, Eliud Lagat.
Ipoa’s Abdirahman Jibril: Constable Mukhwana might tamper with evidence if freed
IPOA said Mr Lagat had allegedly complained that he had continuously suffered false and malicious publications on X account, under a user name identified as Pixel Pioneer and asked for investigations to establish the person and the motive of the attacks.
The complaint, Mr Jibril said, was referred to the serious crimes unit based at the DCI headquarters for investigations.
He added that a group of officers were assigned to investigate the complaint, and through forensic analysis, the police established that Ojwang, a resident of Lida centre in Homa Bay County, was a person of interest and therefore planned his arrest.
The officers picked Ojwang from his parents’ home in Homa Bay and took him on June 7, 2025, and he was booked at Mawego Police Station at around 2.30 pm.
Ojwang was then transported to Nairobi and booked at Central police station at around 9.32 pm by Mukhwana, who held the keys to the cell.
IPOA said that at around 1.40 am, Ojwang was found unresponsive in a pool of blood inside the cell.
He was rushed to Mbagathi Hospital, and after assessment, he was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem conducted on June 10 showed that Ojwang died of head injury due to blunt force trauma, neck compression and multiple subcutaneous bruises all over the body.
The investigator said Mukhwana was arrested on June 12 and held at Capitol Hill Police Station and has been presented in court in accordance with Article 49(1) (f) of the constitution.
A report attached to the court proceedings, from Mbagathi Hospital, stated that Ojwang was brought from Central police station unconscious and unresponsive.
The report added that the officer who took him to the hospital claimed that he sustained self-inflicted injuries while in custody.
According to the hospital, Ojwang’s head and face were swollen and blood oozing from the back of the head, mouth and eyes.
“A notification of death was filed and a copy handed to the police officers who were informed to proceed with the corpse to Kenyatta police station for reporting and then to the mortuary of their choice,” the report added.
The authority added that on June 8, it was discovered that the CCTV system at the station had been interfered with, as the DVR power cable was disconnected, and DVR logs indicated that the operating discs had also been changed and formatted on June 8, between 7.28 am and 7.32 am.
Mr Jibril further said they need to subject his mobile phone to forensic analysis, and they were also waiting for analysis of samples forwarded to the government chemist.
“There is a need to interview other witnesses, including police officers from the station and being a colleague, if released on bail, he is very likely to interfere with and influence the witnesses,” Mr Jibril said.
He added that how the crime was planned and executed, the seriousness of the offence and the complexity of these investigations, he needed more time to carry out the investigations.
