Raila Odinga
ODM Party leader Raila Odinga has weighed in on the mysterious death of Social media influencer Albert Ojwang under police custody.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 10, Raila condemned Ojwang’s death, saying he was horrified by the reports surrounding Ojwang’s death.
“I have been deeply horrified by reports of a young Kenyan, Albert Ojwang, who was picked from Homa Bay and driven to his death in police cells in Nairobi, over an alleged offensive social media post about a senior police officer,” said Raila.
The former Prime Minister called on the National Police Service to explain who sanctioned the operation that saw Ojwang transported from his home to Nairobi.
“So far, nobody knows who gave the orders for Mr. Ojwang to be arrested and ferried all the way to Nairobi and yet that person should be answering to Kenyans.
“Mr. Ojwang now joins the horrifying long list of young and defenseless Kenyans whose lives have been taken too soon, in brutal and senseless circumstances, at the hands of the police,” he stated.
Raila warned that such deaths not only cause personal grief but also damage public trust in state institutions.
“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. 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 failure as a nation,” Raila remarked.
The ODM chief also called for swift and transparent action and accountability from the National Police Service.
“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,” Raila added.
Ojwang died on Sunday, June 8, while in custody at the Central Police Station in Nairobi, a case that has drawn public interest and growing calls for accountability.
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