The death of Albert Ojwang has sent shockwaves across the country, raising serious concerns over freedom of expression and state accountability.
Close friends say Ojwang was picked up by police on Saturday after making social media comments critical of Deputy Inspector General Eliud Langat.
Strangely, no official OB entry or arrest record was made. By Sunday morning, he was dead.
Police claim he sustained self-inflicted injuries while in custody, but that explanation has only fueled suspicion.
Legal experts and human rights activists say the absence of any booking or documentation suggests the arrest was unofficial—and possibly orchestrated to silence Ojwang. “This isn’t law enforcement; this is an execution,” said one of his friends.
Ojwang’s case comes amid growing government pressure on online discourse.
Speaking in Vihiga the same day Ojwang was arrested, Musalia Mudavadi warned young people to be cautious about their digital history, suggesting online behavior could impact future opportunities like jobs or visas.
While Mudavadi focused on long-term consequences, critics argue the real threat is immediate and violent, as Ojwang’s fate grimly shows.
This isn’t the first time such an incident has occurred. Over the past two years, Kenyans have reported arrests, intimidation, and harassment for expressing critical views online. What sets this case apart is the fatal ending and the chilling silence from police command.
Civil liberties lawyers are demanding an independent inquiry into the death, including access to postmortem reports, police records, and possible CCTV footage.
Activists argue that secret arrests and unexplained deaths are unacceptable in a democracy.
They insist that even if someone’s online behavior crosses a legal line, there are due processes in place—none of which include dying in a cell under murky circumstances.
As public pressure builds, Ojwang’s death raises a painful but urgent question: in Kenya today, who really gets held accountable—citizens who speak up or authorities who silence them?