The National Police Service (NPS) has acknowledged releasing an inaccurate report concerning the death of Voi-based teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang, and has pledged to implement internal reforms to prevent similar occurrences.
Police Spokesperson Michael Muchiri confirmed on Thursday that the initial statement released regarding Ojwang’s death had not undergone proper verification. The report claimed Ojwang fatally struck his head against the wall of a holding cell at Central Police Station in Nairobi—a claim later contradicted by a post-mortem report.
“This was a big mistake and shameful,” Muchiri told Citizen TV, stating that the preliminary version appeared routine but was later found to contain several inconsistencies. A corrected report was subsequently issued.
Muchiri also revealed that the officer responsible for publishing the unverified statement is facing legal proceedings. “The one who released the report is in court, as it is wrong to mislead the police,” he said.
According to Muchiri, standard procedure requires such reports to pass through multiple verification stages before release—a process that was not followed in this case. He clarified that the first version came directly from the station where Ojwang was held, and was later updated to reflect more accurate information.
In response to the incident, the NPS says it has heightened its oversight mechanisms to avoid future release of false or misleading reports, particularly in sensitive custody-related cases.
Muchiri acknowledged that public trust in the police has eroded due to repeated cases of brutality and unexplained deaths in custody. “We accept there have been incidents that led to the loss of public trust,” he said. “But I’m here to assure Kenyans that we are working on restoring that trust.”
