Chef Ombachi: Kenyan flags now wrap more coffins than celebrations
By Arnold Ngure, July 12, 2025Celebrity chef Dennis Ombachi has lamented the growing trend where young Kenyans who have died from police brutality are having their coffins wrapped with the national flag.
In a statement on Saturday, July 12, 2025, Ombachi, who was crowned TikTokker of the Year 2022 in Kenya, decried the killing of youthful protesters, noting that it is a betrayal on the part of those meant to protect the citizens.
“Kenyan flags now wrap more coffins than celebrations. Not from war abroad, but from bullets at home. Not heroes fallen in battle, but citizens silenced by the very guns that promised to protect them. This isn’t patriotism. It’s betrayal,” Ombachi remarked.
Boniface Kariuki
The statement comes just a day after Boniface Kariuki, a mask hawker who was shot in the head by a police officer during the protests of June 17, 2025, was buried at his family home in Murang’a County on Friday, July 12, 2025.
The high-profile funeral ceremony was attended by various leaders in the country, including Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, DAP-K Party leader Eugene Wamalwa, and a host of other regional leaders, who vowed to avenge the hawker’s death.
The funeral came just days after that of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang’ who was killed while in police custody at the Central Police Station in Nairobi on June 8, 2025.
Albert Ojwang’
Ojwang’ had been arrested in Homa Bay and brought to Nairobi by a team of DCI officers, who indicated that they booked him at Central Police Station in good health, before news of his death emerged the following day.
While an initial police report said that Ojwang’ had hit his head severely on the cell wall, resulting in his death, a postmortem by a government pathologist dismissed the report, noting that he had been tortured to death.
Violent protests erupted in the country after an inquiry in Parliament revealed that the blogger had been arrested at the behest of the Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat, who had lodged a complaint that Ojwang ’had defamed him.
Following the unrest and public outcry, Lagat was forced to step aside to allow for investigations to be done.
According to People Daily, the embattled Deputy Inspector General of Police is expected to return to his office at the Vigilance House on Monday, July 14, 2025.