The Opposition has issued a 24-hour ultimatum for the government to arrest Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eliud Lagat, over the death of Albert Ojwang.

In a joint statement read by former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi on June 11, 2025, the leaders ordered that junior police officers in connection with Ojwang’s death be arrested and placed under witness protection.

“In light of the foregoing, we are calling, not just for the resignation, but for the arrest and arraignment in court of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eliud Lagat, within 24 hours from the issuance of these statements,” Muturi stated.  

“We similarly demand that the junior officers currently being persecuted be given witness protection with immediate effect. Their lives, obviously, are in danger because they know the truth,” he added.

Crackdown

Condemning the killing of Ojwang, the leaders criticised the government for spearheading a crackdown on its critics, mainly the youth who are active in social media.

“This aberration has been perpetuated by the increased illegal surveillance, abductions, and illegitimate detentions, some of them ascribed to mistaken identity. It has become the modus operandi of a callously inhumane, brutal-led regime,” they added.

Muturi faulted the move by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) directing the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to expedite investigations on the circumstances surrounding the death of Ojwang and report within seven days.

DPP mandate

“This is a cover-up and a diversionary tactic to delay this matter. The mandate of the DPP, under the Constitution of Kenya, is to direct the National Police Service at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, in writing, to do investigations, not to direct the IPOA,” the former Cabinet Secretary said.

The government, Muturi said, must provide full details of the whole incident from when Ojwang was picked up by police at his home in Homa Bay to the time he was transferred to Mbagathi Hospital.

“There are 26 hours that remain unaccounted for between Homa Bay and Nairobi when a healthy man, having lunch with his young family, arrived, according to many sources, bleeding with serious injuries, and before being declared dead on arrival, allegedly at Bagadi Hospital, Nairobi, at 1.39 am,” he emphasised.

Citing the Criminal Procedure Code, Chapter 75 of the Constitution, which stipulates the procedures on arrests relating to cognisable offences, the opposition said that there should have been a formal complaint and an arrest warrant for the deceased.

“Kenyans want to know if there was a formal complaint by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eliud Lagat, and if so, at what police station? Which date and time was this complaint recorded? Was there an OB entry number for the said complaint?” they stated.

Additionally, the opposition said that the government must reveal how Ojwang was moved from Mawego Police Station in Homa Bay to Nairobi’s Central Police Station, and which officers accompanied him by name and rank.