Charles Owino defends IG Kanja on Ojwang’s suicide claim
Director for National Communications Centre Charles Owino has defended the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, on the initial claims he made that Albert Ojwang’ had banged his head to his death in a police cell while in custody.
Speaking during a live TV interview on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Owino stated that Kanja had relied on communication from the Central Police Station and that he had no way of determining what had happened to the 31-year-old.
“It is important to understand how the Inspector General receives reports. When crimes are committed, the police write situation reports which originate from the particular station where the incident has occurred,’ Owino said.
Situation report
“The situation report which was sent to police headquarters for that incident was that this person had committed suicide, and that he had hit his head on the wall; and that is exactly what the IG reported.”
During his questioning at the Senate on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Kanja retracted his initial position and offered an unreserved apology to the nation over the suicide reports.
This was after Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ informed the Inspector General that suicide attracts stigma in some cultures, and that it was in the spirit of the constitution that Kanja apologised and withdrew his initial assertion that Ojwang’ took his own life.
“Based on the report we have now received from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), it is not true that he hit his head against the wall. That was the initial report we were given from the beginning,” Kanja told senators.
“I tender my apology on behalf of the National Police Service for that misinformation.”
Postmortem contradictions
The apology came after an autopsy report revealed that the injuries detected on Ojwang’s body were consistent with assault and not self-inflicted as had earlier been maintained by the police.
During the appearance of the police bosses at the Senate, DCI director Mohammed Amin placed the blame squarely at the Central Police Station, where he said the OCS, Samson Talaam, should be treated as the prime suspect in the murder of Ojwang’.
“Before the booking, the reporting personnel called the OCS, and it is unfortunate that it is being said that he declined to book the suspect,” Amin said.
“Talaam is the OCS for the Central Police Station, and from the totality of things, he should be treated as a prime suspect in the matter.”
On the matter of booking arrested individuals, Owino says the DCI has the jurisdiction to detain people in their custody at any police station of their choice.
