DPP Ingonga directs IPOA to submit report on report into Omondi’s death within seven days
He said his office has been following closely the circumstances surrounding the death of the 31-year-old and are waiting for the file from IPOA
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has been directed to expedite investigations into the mysterious death of a teacher and blogger, Albert Omondi Ojwang, while inside the Nairobi Central Police Station police Cell over the past weekend.
In an update, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Renson Ingonga indicated that his office has been following closely the circumstances surrounding the death of the 31-year-old and are waiting for the file from IPOA.
They directed IPOA to submit the file within seven days for review and action.
“The ODPP is keenly following the circumstances surrounding the death of Albert Omondi Ojwang. In light of the foregoing and under Article 157(4) of the constitution and Section 5(2) of the ODPP Act, the DPP has directed IPOA to expedite the said investigations and the resultant file submitted within seven days for review and appropriate action,” Ingonga said in the statement.
In the Statement, he assured its commitment to executing its constitutional mandate as provided by the law, the interest of the public, and the administration of justice.
The statement came hours after the lead pathologist in the postmortem of the late Omondi indicated that the late died from assault and not self-inflicted injury of banging his head on the cell wall as earlier claimed by the National Police Service.
Speaking after the completion of the process, government pathologist Bernard Midia said that an analysis of the pattern of injuries pointed to assault.
“The pattern of injuries spread all over the body of Ojwang points towards assault,” Midia stated.
He added that the specimens from the postmortem results have been shared with the relevant investigating agencies for action.
“The specimen has been shared with other investigative agencies to assist in getting other pieces of evidence to corroborate with what we have just found,” He added.
While narrating the injuries, Midia, who said the extent cannot be shared with the press, ruled out the earlier report by the National Police Service (NPS) that the deceased injured himself by banging his head on the wall.
He explained that if he had done that, the pattern of the injuries on the head would be different.
“When I examined the injuries on Omondi’s head, he did not hit himself on the walls of the police cell. If he had, the patterns would have shown a frontal bleed, but the bleeds on the scalp were partially spread on the front of the head, the back, and the face. When we refer to the other injuries, then this is not self-inflicted injuries,” he explained.
The pathologist added that there were signs of struggle.
“We have found several injuries, and there were signs of struggle well described in the report for further investigations,” he stated.
The postmortem report contradicted the earlier report issued by the police, which alleged that the deceased was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital after he banged his head on the walls of a police Cell at the Nairobi Central Police Station.
In a statement issued by the NPS Spokesperson, Muchiri Nyaga, he stated that the police took the deceased to the hospital after they found him unconscious, while reports at the occurrence book indicate that his death was recorded at the same station one hour after his booking in.
Ojwang was reported dead on Sunday morning to his family, who were following up after his arrest at their home in Homa Bay at around 3 pm on Saturday.
The detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had informed his father to follow them at the station for more information about his arrest, even though one of the officers shared that he had been arrested over false publication about the Deputy Inspector General of Police (KPS) Eliud Lagat.
