Unrelated image of injured man falsely linked to death of Kenyan killed in police custody

Published on June 20, 2025 at 17:10
3 min read
By Peris GACHAHI, AFP Kenya

Kenyan teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang died in police custody in June 2025 after he was arrested over social media posts criticising a senior police official. Posts published on social media recently claim to show an injured Ojwang at the police station before his death. But this is false; the image is of a Kenyan leader’s driver who was allegedly assaulted by police officers in western Kenya’s Kakamega county.

“A photo of Albert Ojwang when he was alive. Has resurfaced at the Central Police Station reception. His shirt was torn, and he was bleeding from the head (sic),” reads an X post published on June 9, 2025, and shared more than 600 times.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on June 18, 2025

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The image shows a man with a bloodied face and a torn shirt standing with his head tilted upwards.

Similar claims were published elsewhere on X here and here.

Fatal arrest

Ojwang, a 31-year-old teacher, was reportedly arrested on June 6, 2025, in Western Kenya, and transported to the central police station in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. He was accused of criticising deputy inspector general Eliud Lagat on social media (archived here).

He was reported dead two days later, with police initially claiming he died after hitting his head against a cell wall. However, a pathologist’s report indicated injuries consistent with assault (archived here).

Ojwang’s death sparked public outrage, which resulted in protests demanding justice and Lagat’s resignation (archived here and here).

Lagat has since announced he would “step aside” from his position amid ongoing investigations. Additionally, two police officers and a technician accused of tampering with CCTV footage at the station have been arrested in connection with Ojwang’s death (archived here and here).

However, the posts purportedly showing an image of Ojwang at the station before he died are false.

Unrelated image

AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches and found the original image published on Facebook by ex-Kakamega county senator Cleophas Malala on June 9, 2025, alongside claims that his driver was assaulted by police (archived here).

“The Kakamega OCPD - a one MR. ROTICH and three other uniformed officers trailed my vehicle and forced my driver to stop,” he wrote. “*Disappointingly, upon confirming I was not on board, they commanded him to drive to an unknown destination. When he refused, they assaulted him so severely using a gun pointer that he was left profusely bleeding (sic).”

“This is unconscionable brutality by those sworn to protect us,” he continued. “Our nation sinks deeper into lawlessness when officers become perpetrators. We will not be intimidated—we are formally filing a complaint with IPOA (Independent Policing Oversight Authority).”

The incident was also reported by local media (archived here and here).

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