When police arrived at Albert Ojwang’s home, they were calm and courteous. That gave his wife, Nevnine Onyango, a sense of reassurance. Unlike other political activists who had been abducted by unidentified security agents, the 31-year-old teacher and blogger was taken openly to a police station, and the officers even shared their phone numbers.
“They were so soft. They were not violent,” Onyango recalled. “So that is what gave me even more confidence.”
The next morning, she learned her husband was dead.
Ojwang’s death in custody has ignited public outrage across Kenya, just a year after deadly youth-led protests rocked the country over police brutality and rising costs of living. Hundreds took to the streets in Nairobi this week, torching vehicles as riot police fired tear gas. Many demonstrators cited Ojwang’s death as evidence that police abuses remain rampant.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), Kenya’s police watchdog, said Ojwang was arrested in Homa Bay, western Kenya, following a complaint by Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat, who alleged that the blogger had posted false and defamatory content about him on X (formerly Twitter).
Ojwang was transferred to Nairobi the same day. Onyango last heard from him at around 9 p.m., when he called from the city’s Central Police Station. “He sounded worried,” she said. “He asked if I would come to Nairobi.”
By the next morning, he was dead. An autopsy found a head injury, neck compression, and other trauma consistent with assault, contradicting initial police claims of suicide. The national police chief later apologized.
President William Ruto acknowledged on Wednesday that Ojwang had died “at the hands of the police,” calling it “heartbreaking and unacceptable.”
Three people have been arrested: the officer in charge of the station where Ojwang died, a constable, and a CCTV technician. A police spokesperson described the incident as “a crime committed by a couple of individuals,” and said it did not reflect the wider police service. “We want to see justice served,” the spokesperson added.
Ojwang’s social media accounts have since been taken down, and the exact post that triggered his arrest remains unclear. IPOA said another blogger had also been arrested in connection to Lagat’s complaint, and that interrogation of that individual led authorities to Ojwang.
Onyango said police told them her husband had made critical comments about “their boss,” whom they accused of corruption, though no name was mentioned.
“What hurts most,” she said, “is that these are the people who are supposed to protect us. Not harm us.”
Ojwang leaves behind his wife and their three-year-old son. His death has become a rallying point for activists demanding an end to police abuse and a full accounting from the country’s security institutions.