ALBERT OMONDI OJWANG
A large group of young people marched while singing funeral songs, carrying the body of Albert Ojwang’ to Mawego Police Station. This was the station where Albert was first held before being taken to Central Police Station in Nairobi.
The mourners said they were trying to chase away bad spirits that might disturb Albert’s peace. However, the peaceful march turned chaotic. Some mourners became angry, started protesting, and set parts of the police station on fire.
This happened just one day after a funeral service was held for Albert on Wednesday, July 2, at Ridgeways Baptist Church in Nairobi. His family and friends remembered him as a quiet and kind person who died too soon.
Albert’s mother, Eucabeth Ojwang’, shared her pain. “They took my Albert just when I had made lunch for him. He hadn’t even eaten his ugali. When the police came, he was shaking. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me he had done nothing,” she said.
Records show that Albert was first booked into Mawego Police Station and then taken out at 4:00 p.m. He was later booked into Central Police Station in Nairobi at 9:32 p.m.
Albert’s death caused a national outcry. Many people demanded answers about why he was moved so far from Homa Bay to Nairobi. Some lawyers said the transfer might not have followed the law.
The issue became so serious that the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Eliud Lagat, stepped aside from his position.
When the head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mohammed Amin, appeared before the Senate on June 11, Senator Boni Khalwale asked him to show the court order that allowed Albert to be moved. But Amin said a court order was not needed.
“We do not require a court order to move a suspect from one police area to another,” he said.
