Kenya to charge police officers with murder over blogger's death

24/6/2025 6:10

Kenyan prosecutors said on

Monday they approved murder charges against six people,

including three police officers, for their role in killing a

political blogger whose death in police custody sparked large

protests.



Kenya's Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said

in a statement that the six suspects would be arraigned on

Tuesday. One of the police officers was the commander at the

station where Albert Ojwang, a 31-year-old blogger and teacher,

was held in Nairobi.



It was not immediately clear whether the defendants were

represented by counsel.



Ojwang died earlier this month following his arrest as part

of an investigation triggered by a complaint by the deputy

national police chief, Eliud Lagat.



Lagat had filed a formal complaint about allegedly false and

malicious information published about him on social media,

according to the state-funded police watchdog.



Police initially attributed Ojwang's death to suicide but

apologised after an autopsy found that his wounds were the

result of assault.



Ojwang's death prompted hundreds to protest police brutality

over the past two weeks. Additional demonstrations are expected

on Wednesday, which will also mark the one-year anniversary of a

mass protest that culminated in the storming of parliament and

several deaths by police gunfire.



Kenyan activists who have been protesting Ojwang's death

immediately accused prosecutors of engaging in a cover-up by

only charging low-level officers.



Lagat, who has denied any wrongdoing, stepped down

temporarily from his post last week pending completion of the

investigation into Ojwang's death.



One of the other officers charged with murder, James

Mukhwana, told investigators that his superiors told him there

was "an order from above" to have Ojwang roughed up when he came

into the station, according to a copy of his testimony seen by

Reuters.



Reuters has not been able to reach Lagat directly for

comment and the National Police Service declined to provide

comment on his behalf.