Activists fear police, Ipoa spat could derail Ojwang' murder probe

Security experts and human rights organisation have expressed fear that the disquiet between the National Police Service and oversight agency Ipoa could derail probe into Albert Ojwang’s death.

Independent Medico-Legal Unit executive director Grace Wangeci warns that the underlying bad blood where NPS officers have reportedly refused to cooperate in investigations could mar the efforts to get to the bottom of the teacher’s death. 

Wangeci also took issues with the announcement by Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja on interdiction of the Central police station officers, saying that was the preserve of the National Police Service Commission. 

“The moment that Kanja purported to announce interdiction of the officers then we knew there is a problem. The human resource function is the preserve of the commission and Kanja is neither its chairman nor its spokesperson,” she told the Star. 

“Also consider the fact of tension between the Ipoa and the service which have [led to the bungling of] investigations before,” she said.

However, police spokesman Muchiri Nyaga insists the service is operating in a transparent manner, dismissing claims that it has obstructed probes in the past. 

Successive Ipoa leadership have complained in the past that the police have been blocking its work, with the defunct Ann Makori-led board describing the entity in its end of term report that it was moribund.

For example, immediately after last year’s June protests, Ipoa complained that its efforts to probe how the police responded to the demos, including the June 25 invasion of Parliament, was being frustrated amid public criticism of its work.

The agency accuses the police of refusal to avail deployment schedules, arms registers, records of their usage and ignoring summonses it issues.

Commissioner Joseph Waiganjo said they are mulling seeking warrants of arrest against some senior commanders and officers, whom he said are blocking their access to crucial documents.

He also claimed the commission is also being frustrated by some public hospitals that are refusing to avail medical records for injuries they believe were sustained during the protests.

“It is not just lack of cooperation from police senior command, it is also from some government institutions," Waiganjo said.

"We have been visiting some major public hospitals, trying to get medical records of those involved in the demonstrations and those we think their injuries are related to gunshot wounds and the institutions are not giving us the cooperation that we require.

“In the life of Ipoa, we have not seen the levels of non-cooperation from senior commanders that we are seeing now.”

Kenya National Commission on Human rights also noted the silent tiff between the two institutions, saying that with the “reprehensible death of Ojwang” it expects full cooperation. 

“The KNCHR demands full cooperation from the National Police Service in providing all relevant evidence, and a transparent, independent investigation by both KNCHR and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority,” the agency said.  

“The commission further calls on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary to ensure accountability and justice are delivered without delay.

“The unexplained death in custody is a reprehensible breach of the state’s duty to protect those in its care and reflects a wider, deeply troubling pattern of deaths and abuses in police custody.”