Protests force Kenyan top cop out as cover-up fails
But police are continuing to shoot protesters, even after the killing of a teacher showed how violent the state can be.
Robert Amalemba
A week after the brutal killing of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang in police custody, Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat “stepped aside” on Tuesday, bowing to mounting public fury, protests, and allegations of a systemic cover-up.
Ojwang, a schoolteacher arrested at his home in Homa Bay, died two weeks ago after being transferred 400km to Nairobi’s Central Police Station – a move ordered by Lagat, the second highest-ranking officer in the country. Ojwang had allegedly authored a social media post that claimed Lagat was at the centre of a network of police corruption.
What happened next has jolted the nation: the teacher was beaten to death in police custody. And now the junior officers initially blamed for the murder are flipping their statements – implicating the highest echelons of the police force.
The most damning testimony so far has come from Constable James Mukhwana, who was himself arrested in the wake of the killing, alongside the police chief in charge of the police station and four others. Mukhwana has withdrawn his initial report and now alleges that Ojwang was targeted by four hardened remandees through a chain of command that was “following instructions from DIG Lagat”. He also alleged the police had a prearranged narrative to cover up the incident.
Fearing for his life, Mukhwana has requested witness protection and offered to testify as a state witness.
Senate majority whip Bonny Khalwale told The Continent he was baffled by the uneven handling of justice. “How can the man who bears the greatest responsibility still be free while his juniors are in the cells? That paints a terrible picture of our fight against injustice within the police service.”
This week the police responded to protests to demand accountability with lethal force – a man selling face masks in downtown Nairobi was shot in the head at point blank range, and is now fighting for his life in hospital. At least 22 other people were injured, some with gunshot wounds.