NAIROBI, Kenya – A Nairobi-based technician has been arrested in connection with the alleged tampering of CCTV equipment at Central Police Station, where teacher Albert Ojwang died in custody under suspicious circumstances.
The technician, whose name police have not released, was picked up from his residence in Saika on Friday morning during a targeted operation, authorities confirmed.
According to police, the suspect has confessed to being summoned by officers at the station to interfere with the CCTV system just hours after Ojwang was reported dead.
He told investigators that on June 8, 2025, at 6:22 am—a day after Ojwang was booked into the cells—he received a call from a police officer at Central Station asking him to report urgently.
Upon arrival, he was ushered into the office housing the digital video recorder (DVR), where he claims he was instructed to delete footage from June 6 and 7.
He said he informed the officers that footage could not be deleted selectively and that only a complete system format would erase the data.
Although he denied deleting any footage, the technician admitted to receiving Sh3,000 from a senior officer after the interaction.
The following day, he was allegedly contacted again and asked to return with a new hard drive to replace the existing one in the DVR.
When he arrived at the station without the requested drive, he claimed the system had already been tampered with.
He further told investigators that the officer discouraged him from wearing reflective clothing or anything that would identify him as a technician.
Later, when approached by an Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) officer seeking technical help, he declined and referred a colleague, citing safety concerns and online speculation around Ojwang’s death.
The arrest comes amid a widening investigation into the incident, which IPOA has said involves “a deliberate effort to erase surveillance footage” linked to the teacher’s final hours in police custody.
IPOA chairperson Isaac Hassan told Parliament yesterday that the DVR logs show the CCTV system’s hard disks were formatted and replaced on June 8, between 7:23:29 and 7:23:48 am—barely 10 hours after Ojwang was booked under OB number 136/7/6/2025 at 9:35 pm.
“Somebody called someone to come and switch off a particular section, but he said he could only shut down the entire system,” Hassan said.
Police said at least three more suspects are being pursued, with some reportedly in hiding.
The technician is the second person to be arrested in connection with the case.
So far, at least 23 individuals have recorded statements, including 17 police officers drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and officers attached to Central and Mawego Police Stations.
Detectives from DCI are working alongside IPOA as pressure mounts on the National Police Service to account for Ojwang’s unexplained death and the apparent attempt to obstruct investigations.
