The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has reported 20 new deaths in police cells across the country in the months following the killing of 23-year-old Alfred Ojwang — a case that triggered national outrage and renewed scrutiny of police conduct.
Speaking during the Day of Delayed Justice commemoration in Nairobi on Sunday, IPOA Chairperson Ahmed Issack Hassan revealed the grim statistics, saying the agency is overwhelmed by rising complaints and persistent resistance by rogue officers.
“The numbers are horrifying. Twenty more deaths have occurred in police custody since the Ojwang case. What’s worse is that most officers implicated in these cases are outrightly non-cooperative,” Hassan said, calling it a “criminal culture of impunity.”
The late Alfred Ojwang was reportedly tortured and killed in a police cell earlier this year, sparking public anger and calls for urgent reforms. His death had become a rallying point for families of other victims who say the State continues to enable violence through silence and delayed investigations.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga, who also attended the event, termed the revelations “a national emergency” and demanded a judicial inquiry into the systemic rot within law enforcement agencies.
“The law cannot be used as a weapon by those meant to uphold it. We must confront the reality that people are dying in police custody — and the silence from key institutions is deafening,” Maraga stated.
Families attending the event gave painful testimonies, detailing harrowing last moments of their loved ones. Some shared photos of relatives who went missing after arrest, only for their bodies to be discovered with injuries indicating torture.
“I lost my son three weeks after Ojwang. He had just turned 19. We were told he collapsed, but his body had bruises, and nobody has explained what really happened,” a father from Kisumu shared.
Despite IPOA’s mandate to investigate and recommend prosecution, Hassan said many investigations stall because officers refuse to give statements, destroy evidence, or intimidate witnesses. He called on Parliament to urgently give IPOA powers to prosecute and establish an independent forensic unit.
Civil society groups are now pushing for the formation of a special tribunal to handle police-related killings and disappearances. HAKI Africa, Amnesty Kenya, and the Law Society of Kenya have jointly announced a task force to prepare a class-action lawsuit against the State on behalf of families of those who died in custody.
As the candlelight vigil closed the event, the image of Alfred Ojwang loomed large — not just as a symbol of a life lost, but as a haunting reminder of how many more continue to die silently behind police station walls.
