A Kenyan man, Albert Ojwang, a 31-year-old teacher and blogger, died in police custody after being arrested for a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ojwang was detained for allegedly making a “false publication” in the western town of Homa Bay, insulting a senior person, before being driven 350km to Nairobi.
According to the police, he sustained head injuries after hitting his head against a cell wall and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
The circumstances surrounding his death are shrouded in controversy, with Amnesty International’s Kenya branch director, Irungu Houghton, describing it as “very suspicious”.
Houghton questioned why Ojwang wasn’t booked at the local police station and instead taken on a long journey, calling for an urgent, thorough, and independent investigation.
The police chief has suspended the head of the police station and all officers on duty, allowing Kenya’s independent oversight body to conduct an impartial investigation.
The incident has sparked widespread outrage online, with many demanding police accountability.
Senior police officer Stephen Okal suggested that the incident was an “attempted suicide”, but this claim has done little to quell the concerns of human rights groups.
Ojwang’s death comes amid rising concerns about the treatment of government critics, following the recent charging of software developer Rose Njeri for violating cybercrime laws over a tool she created to oppose a government finance bill.
