NAIROBI, Kenya – An autopsy on the body of Albert Ojwang’, a teacher who died while in police custody, has revealed he succumbed to neck compression and sustained multiple injuries, raising new questions about the circumstances of his death.
The post-mortem was conducted on Tuesday at City Mortuary by government pathologist Dr Bernard Midia, alongside a family-appointed pathologist, Mutuma Zambezi.
“Following the autopsy, we find that there were serious injuries to the head, and also features of neck compression,” Dr Midia told journalists. “There were multiple soft tissue injuries spread all over the body — head, neck, upper limbs, trunk, and lower limbs. These are injuries that appear to be externally inflicted.”
Midia dismissed suggestions that Ojwang’ may have harmed himself, saying the nature and spread of the injuries made that unlikely.
“When we tie up the injuries that are well spread out, including on the upper limbs and trunk, this is unlikely to be a self-inflicted injury,” he said.
Ojwang’ died on June 7 while being held at Nairobi’s Central Police Station, allegedly less than an hour after he was booked in.
Police had claimed in a report on Sunday that he hit his head on the wall of a cell.
Ojwang’ was arrested on Friday at his home in Homa Bay over an alleged offensive social media post about a senior police officer.
He was transferred to Nairobi, first taken to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road, and later detained at Central Police Station.
The post-mortem findings now cast serious doubt on the police narrative and amplify calls for accountability.
ODM leader Raila Odinga earlier on Tuesday condemned Ojwang’s death, describing it as a brutal example of police excess.
He warned that such deaths erode public trust in the state and called for a thorough investigation and speedy resolution.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched a probe into the death. Several officers who were on duty at the time have been interdicted.
