Funeral held for Kenyan blogger whose death in police custody sparked violent protests

One month after his death in police custody, Kenyan blogger Albert Ojwang was laid to rest on Friday in his home town of Homa Bay. 

Thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the 31-year-old journalist whose death sparked violent protests after an autopsy report discredited police claims that he died from self-inflicted wounds. 

Ojwang’s death at Nairobi’s Central Police Station reignited long standing public anger about police brutality across the country.  

Two police officers have been arrested in connection with the incident and the Kenyan parliament held televised hearings about the ongoing investigation.

"We are not going to rest,” Anna Ngumi, a friend of Ojwang’s, told mourners at the funeral. “We are not going to rest until justice is done. Remember we are still celebrating 7/7 (7th of July protest day) here, we will do 7/7 for Albert Ojwang.”

Police impunity

In Nairobi last month, during protests against Ojwang’s death, 22-year-old street vendor Boniface Kariuki was shot by police at close range. Babu Owino, a Kenyan Member of Parliament who also spoke at the funeral, called for an end to police impunity. 

"Police are supposed to protect life and property but police are the ones taking lives of Kenyans. We condemn this act vehemently and we are saying that any police officer who was involved in killing Albert Ojwang must be arrested, taken to court and jailed for life."

President William Ruto vowed to end police brutality and extrajudicial deaths when he took office in 2022. But police watchdogs say at least 20 people have died in custody in the last four months alone, while 160 cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances were reported last year.