Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has condemned the death of Albert Ojwang, who died hours after being arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers.

In a statement on June 10, 2025, Odinga stated that his demise erodes the credibility of the police service. Raila indicated that the person who gave the orders that led to the arrest of Ojwang should be the one answering to Kenyans.

“While these deaths cause tremendous pain to individuals and their families, they seriously erode the authority and credibility of the police and the state, and that is a significant step towards chaos and collapse,” reads the statement.

“When citizens can no longer tell the difference between the two forms of injustice, police injustice and mob injustice, we are staring at the reality of failure as a nation.”

Furthermore, he stated that Ojwang’s death adds to the long list of you Kenyans whose lives ended unexpectedly in the hands of the police.

The former prime minister has unequivocally called for the speedy and credible closure of the matter, alongside others that have occurred in the hands of police since 2023.

‘So far, nobody knows who gave the orders for Ojwang to be arrested and ferried to Nairobi, and yet that person should be answering to Kenyans. Ojwang now joins the horrifyingly long list of young and defenceless Kenyans whose lives have been taken too soon, in brutal and senseless circumstances, at the hands of the police,” he stated.

 ‘A speedy and credible closure to this latest incident of injustice in the hands of the police, alongside the many others that we have been pursuing since 2023, is not optional. The National Police Service must commit to and take concrete actions to hold their own accountable, beginning with this senseless death of Albert Ojwang,” he added.

Ojwang’s death

Ojwanga was picked up by police officers in Kakot, Homa Bay County, on Saturday afternoon, June 7, 2025, who stated they were investigating him over a post he allegedly made on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

They later drove him to Nairobi and detained him at the Central Police Station.

However, when his family arrived at the police station on Sunday, June 8, 2025, to follow up on the case, they found he was dead.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) Chairperson Issack Hassan has stressed that the commission has already deployed a team to probe the controversial death of Ojwang in police custody.

Addressing the press on Monday, June 9, 2025, at the Central Police Station in Nairobi, Hassan assured Kenyans that IPOA would conduct an intensive investigation aimed at establishing the truth and ensuring justice prevails.

“Our mandate is to uphold the rule of law and protect citizens from any form of abuse by the police. We shall leave no stone unturned in uncovering the circumstances that led to Mr Ojwang’s death,” he affirmed