Technician: I was paid Sh3,000 to delete Ojwang CCTV at Central Police

A technician who was allegedly called to interfere with the CCTV system at the Central Police Station following the death of teacher Albert Ojwang has been arrested.

According to police, the suspect was arrested at his Saika residence on Friday morning in a targeted operation.

Police said the technician admitted to being involved in efforts to interfere with the CCTV system.

The technician told police that a woman who had contracted him in 2024 to install CCTV cameras at the station had supplied all equipment, including 25 cameras and a server/DVR with 30-day storage capacity.

He said he installed cameras at the report office, corridors leading to the cells, both floors, and the parking yard.

He added that he had been called back several times for maintenance, though infrequently.

He told investigators that on June 8, 2025, at 6:22 am, he received a phone call from a police officer at the station requesting him to report there immediately.

Upon arrival, he was taken to the office of a senior officer, where the DVR is housed and was allegedly asked to delete footage from June 6 and 7, 2025.

He claimed he informed them that specific-day deletion was not possible, and the only option was to format the hard drive, which would erase all stored data and restore default settings.

He added that he did not remove anything from the DVR and was given Sh3,000 by a senior officer after the task.

The following day, June 9, 2025, at 6:28 am, the same officer reportedly called him again, asking him to return with a new hard drive to replace the old one in the DVR.

He said the officer advised him not to wear reflective clothing or anything that would identify him as a technician.

Because shops were not yet open, he went to the station without a new hard drive and found the DVR had already been opened and tampered with. He was told to return later.

At 12:07 pm, the officer called to check if he was available, but he was working in Westlands at the time.

The officer also informed him that his contact had been shared with an IPOA official seeking help retrieving footage.

The IPOA officer contacted him, but he said he was unable to assist and instead sent a colleague, citing work commitments and concern over the reports circulating online about a death at the station.

Police said they are pursuing at least three more suspects in relation to the matter.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations are supporting the Independent Policing Oversight Authority in the ongoing investigation.

He is the second person to be arrested in connection with the matter, as police continue to pursue at least four more individuals.

Some of the suspects are reported to be in hiding.

At least 23 people have recorded statements so far, including 17 police officers drawn from the DCI, as well as officers stationed at Central and Mawego police stations.

Earlier, IPOA revealed that the hard disks of CCTV systems at Nairobi’s Central Police Station had been replaced and formatted.

IPOA chairperson Isaac Hassan told the National Assembly’s Security Committee that logs from the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) showed the disks were replaced and formatted on June 8, 2025, at 07:23:29 and 07:23:48 hours.

Hassan said the activity appeared to be part of a deliberate effort to erase surveillance footage related to the events preceding Ojwang’s death while in police custody.

“Somebody called someone to come and switch off a particular section, but he said he could only shut down the entire system,” Hassan told the committee.

He added that the DVR logs indicated the operating discs had been changed and formatted on the specified date and time.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja stated that Ojwang was booked at the Central Police Station under Occurrence Book number 136/7/6/2025 at 21:35 hours on June 7, 2025.