Why did Albert Oywang’s death be in court on the police of Kenya

“My son died like an animal,” said Meshak Ovang, before breaking tears in front of the journalists near the central police station in the Kenya capital, Nairobi.

His only son Albert Oywang was arrested in their village of Kokot, near the western city of Homa -Bey, the day before – on Saturday, June 7, 2025 – when he had lunch with his wife Anyang.

One of the five officers who arrested reported to the families that he had been accused of insulting the police chief in social media.

“We asked the police if he would be safe because we have heard stories about the abduction of some people,” said Ms. Onyang. “They assured us at the moment they even give us their numbers.”

When he was booked into a central police station on Saturday evening, he was allowed to call his wife.

“When we talked, he looked like: ‘As far as I emphasized, don’t worry like that. To a quick meeting. “I think these were his last words,” she said.

But his father was concerned and decided to follow his son, making 350 km (220 miles) traveling to Nairobi – transferring participation in the land name as a safety when he needed to pay the guarantor.

He says he arrived early on Sunday morning at the train station, and after he had been waiting for a few hours, he eventually said his son had died of wounds inflicted.

In disbelief and standing next to his lawyer, he described his son’s body: “He bleeding from his nose and had a bruised torso and face. He was also without a shirt, but it was not the way I handed him to the police on Saturday.”

His open interview at Heartfelt Swahili and his refusal of silence touched by Kenyans, and the hashtag #Justiceforalbeang immediately began trend, calling for the investigation.

In Kenya, there is a history of police cruelty, but the following revelations stunned the nation – not only the details of the death in the police care of the prepared teacher turned into a blogger, but also the following allegations of the police and the basis.

Parliament even called the police chief, the head of the criminal investigation directorate (DCI), the Minister of the Interior and the Independent Police Protection (IPOA) for the interrogation.

It is difficult to imagine why a 31-year-old bachelor’s degree could die such tough circumstances.

It is clear that his father, who worked in a career in southeastern Kenya, was proud that his son was so well academically.

“He can never hurt anyone on the Internet or physical terms,” ​​David Bvakali said, a former Kituma high school colleague, said the Daily Nation in Kenya.

Albert Owang, a hot football fan of Manchester United, taught religious study, history and rugby at a school in Mwatat in the southeast of Kenya.

Last year, he was there only a couple of terms because he was not busy on a state contract, but privately through the school management council.

This is often for new teachers – it has not been completed for a long time – and such arrangements do not pay such arrangements.

Mr. Zvacal said his friend recently had been in touch to discuss how he hoped to receive a publication as a government teacher.

And it was an exciting time for Mr. Oywang, who lived in the coastal city of Malini when he and his 26-year-old wife returned to his rural Homa Bay’s rural house for a long visit so that she could be properly acquainted with his family.

They arrived in April and, according to Luo, was a formalized marriage.

Part of these traditions involved the restoration of his “Simba” – or a bachelor’s in the father’s estate – to a house suitable for the couple and their three -year -old son George.

He helped his parents, making some farms on two acres of land – and his wife made plans for the future, along with the fast prom, Annga as a healthcare provider.

Mr -n Owang also tried to make money as a digital content creator – and was part of the movement of young people on social media who posted political and social problems.

This led to his death.

It is unclear how many followers he had on X when his account was removed after his arrest, but his colleagues said he had a strong presence on the Internet and often participated in companies in social media.

He used a nickname – what is not unusual with Kenyan on the Internet, given the recent repressions on youth dissent.

Activists linked their death with a broader tendency of the police impunity, citing an unsettled death of more than 60 young people during the last year against taxation.

“Oywang’s death is not an isolated incident, but a cool reminder of the institutional impunity and behavior of the rogue in the National Police Service (NPS),” said local media Muslims on human rights (Muhur) and well -known human rights activist Hap Halifa.

But what is unusual about Albert Oywang is how quickly and in detail the investigation was. In addition, two days of television parliamentary hearings meant that the Kenyans had heard the disturbing details that led to his death.

Before the parliament last Wednesday, the police chief Douglas Canda was forced to distract a previous police statement, which said that Mr. Oywang was found unconscious in his cell and headed to the hospital where he died from his head injuries after he hit his head.

A posthumous examination and an unusually rapid IPOA investigation have excluded the possibility that the blogger killed himself.

The police chief apologized and accused the mistake of “misinformation” from his juniors.

He continued to say that the arrest of Mr. Oywang was linked to defamatory internet which has since gone toward. Mr. Logat said he did it in a “good and conscious thought” about his duties by the deputy police chief, and that he provides any support he could investigate the death of the blogger.

According to the statement Dedge in the parliament, reports on X allegedly, Mr. Logat conducted corrupt operations in the police, placing reliable officers in specific departments and traffic shift to “control both the flows of revenue and the stream of intelligence.”

The statement of Mr. Kanggi talks in detail about various messages, including the one who claimed that Mr. Logat conducted an investigation into the ethics and anti-corruption commission (EACC), as well as his photography and phrase “Mafi-Police”.

According to a statement by the parliament of the police chief, on June 4, Mr. Logat filed a complaint against DCI. The next day, when the EACC confirmed that there was no investigation, the police began to consider what was considered as a “serious case” in accordance with the law on computers and cybercrime.

Mr. Kange said there were about two reports related to communication bodies. This led to the arrest of a man on June 5, who showed that he and four others participated in the company – one was Albert Oywang.

Two days later, police denounced Mr. Oywang to his native village in Western Kenya.

In his testimony, Vice -Chair IPOA Anne Wandjik gave some shocking details about the last few hours of Mr. Oywang’s life.

She said the two witnesses who were in a nearby camera said IPOA that they had heard loud shouts on the night when he died.

Investigators IPOA claim that the equipment has been paid $ 30 (£ 22) to disable CCTV at the station.

After the end of the parliamentary hearings ended, Two police officers were arrested in connection with the death of Mr. Oywang.

The IPOA, which brings the case, said the junior PC officer James Mukhvan told investigators that the intention was to “discipline” Mr. Oywang rather than kill him.

He said that an officer engaged in the station, Samson Tal, had contacted the order, and he gave the police $ 15 to pay two prisoners to defeat Mr. Oywang.

Due to his lawyers, Mr. Tal talked the allegations, and Mr. did not commented on the log.

According to the Kenyan law, people who are in custody are entitled to a certain defense, including the right to legal representation and communication with supporters or support.

In the family, the Oywang still has difficulties with the absorption of their loss.

“I didn’t believe it until I saw his body in the morgues,” said Ms. Anyang, telling the BBC that the signs of torture. It was like “things we just see in movies … I have never seen such a body. It was so broken,” she said.

President William Ruto, who promised to stop the history of cruelty and extrajudicial death in Kenya when he entered into power in 2022, said his shock, saying: “This tragic occurrence is broken and unacceptable.”

He urged the police to fully cooperate to facilitate “fast, transparent and reliable investigation.”

“I am fully expected that the truth about what happened to Oyning will be established in due time and will be presented,” he added.

However last year reported nearly 160 cases of suspected extrajudicial murders and violent disappearances According to the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC).

IPOA chairman Ahmed Isak Hassan told the deputies when he was interrogated on Thursday, at least 20 people were killed while police kept only in the last four months.

“It is as if our constitution is only as a newspaper that we need to read, and tomorrow we forget about it,” said the father of the BBC.

The grief interrupted the widow of Mr. Oywang: “I don’t know what will happen next because the man who was my best friend … he is gone. So, I feel that my world is so small and dark.”

But, like her father -in -law, Mrs. Anyang believes that the case that caused the protest can be a turning point.

“I think Albert’s death must be open to us because it has shown us some things that happen in cells that may not know.

“I really want to talk to my own -Kenyans to stand on their feet and try to talk about this business so that everyone can be accountable.”