# 'No CCTV, no trial': the Ojwang custody-death case stalls on erased footage
> A blogger died in a Nairobi police cell in June 2025; a year on, the murder trial of six officers halts because the station's CCTV was deliberately formatted hours after his death

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-06-24 · heads: Quem decide, O que quebrou · 11 takes · 4 lenses · 1 regions

## Summary

The murder trial of blogger-teacher [Albert Ojwang](/pt/entity/albert-ojwang) — who died in a cell at Nairobi Central Police Station
on the night of 7-8 June 2025 after arrest for allegedly defaming Deputy IG Eliud Lagat — stalled in 2026
because key CCTV evidence is missing. Former OCS Samson Talaam is charged alongside constables James Mukhwana
and Peter Kimani and three others; all denied the charge and were repeatedly refused bail. After the trial
opened on 17 March 2026, the High Court (Justice Diana Kavedza) directed [Ipoa](/pt/entity/ipoa) to supply the footage, the
judge saying hearing dates could not be set without it. IPOA found the station CCTV deliberately tampered —
the DVR cable disconnected and discs formatted on 8 June 2025 at 07:28 and 07:32 — which its chair called a
coordinated effort to delete the record. A postmortem ruled out suicide, citing blunt-force head trauma. New
hearing dates were reported from 20 July 2026. Lagat "stepped aside" on 16 June 2025.

## By the numbers

- 7-8 June 2025 — night of Ojwang's death in custody; postmortem ruled out suicide.
- 8 June 2025, 07:28 / 07:32 — times the CCTV discs were formatted, per IPOA.
- 6 — accused officers, all denied bail; trial opened 17 March 2026.
- 20 July 2026 — reported new hearing dates, protected witnesses first.
- 16 June 2025 — date Deputy IG Eliud Lagat "stepped aside."

## Why it matters

The case is the legal afterlife of the Gen-Z protest era under [William Ruto](/pt/entity/william-ruto): a custody death that became
a national flashpoint, now testing whether the [oversight](/pt/entity/knchr) and judicial system can convict police
when the evidence has been erased. Its stall undercuts the credibility of the parallel
[reparations push](/pt/n/kenya-protest-reparations-framework) that leans on the same police records.

## What to watch

- Whether IPOA recovers or reconstructs the erased footage, or the case proceeds without it.
- Whether the 20 July hearing dates hold and protected witnesses testify.
- Any charges over the CCTV tampering itself.
- How the trial's progress shapes the 25 June protest anniversary mood.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **IPOA (Independent Policing Oversight Authority)** (Kenya, en) — Kenya's police-oversight authority, whose investigators established that the Nairobi Central Police Station CCTV was tampered with — the DVR disconnected and discs formatted on 8 June 2025 — the primary finding underpinning the trial.
  Source: https://www.ipoa.go.ke
- **Daily Nation** (Kenya, en) — 
  Source: https://nation.africa/kenya/news/albert-ojwang-s-death-court-rejects-bid-to-halt-trial-of-officers-in-blogger-s-murder-case-5101092
- **The Star** (Kenya, en) — 
  Source: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-04-09-court-limits-lsk-access-in-albert-ojwang-murder-trial
- **The Standard** (Kenya, en) — 
  Source: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/amp/courts/article/2001530717/court-denies-ex-ocs-talaam-bail-in-albert-ojwang-murder-case
- **Capital FM** (Kenya, en) — 
  Source: https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2025/09/ojwang-murder-trial-ocs-talam-co-accused-denied-bail-over-witness-tampering/
- **Citizen Digital** (Kenya, en) — 
  Source: https://www.citizen.digital/article/court-detains-ocs-talaam-for-15-days-in-albert-ojwang-murder-case-n364833
- **Eastleigh Voice** (Kenya, en) — 
  Source: https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/national/163752/ipoa-cctv-footage-deliberately-erased-after-ojwangs-death-in-custody
- **The EastAfrican** (Kenya, en) — 
  Source: https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/kenya-s-deputy-police-chief-eliud-lagat-steps-aside-5083544

### court-accountability
- **Daily Nation** (Kenya, en) — Reports the High Court halting the trial for want of CCTV evidence, with the judge stating hearing dates cannot be set without the footage — the accountability lens on how missing evidence stalls justice in a custody death.
  > "Without the CCTV, we cannot set hearing dates."
  Source: https://nation.africa/kenya/news/no-cctv-no-trial-court-halts-albert-ojwang-murder-case-5298508

### independent watchdog
- **Citizen Digital** (Kenya, en) — Details IPOA's finding that the station's CCTV was deliberately interfered with — discs changed and formatted on 8 June 2025 at 07:28 and 07:32 — framing the cover-up itself as the story, not just the death.
  > "IPOA found the operating discs had been changed and formatted on June 8, 2025."
  Source: https://www.citizen.digital/news/ipoa-on-ojwangs-death-cctv-footage-at-central-police-station-interfered-with-n364410

### mainstream / evidentiary detail
- **The Standard** (Kenya, en) — Reconstructs why the CCTV mattered — it would have captured Ojwang's final hours in custody — and what its erasure means for the prosecution of the six accused officers.
  > "CCTV evidence could uncover the final hours of Albert Ojwang in custody."
  Source: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001536599/cctv-evidence-could-uncover-final-hours-of-albert-ojwang

## Across the graph
- Related: [[kenya-protest-reparations-framework]], [[kenya-finance-bill-2026-gen-z-protests]]
- Entities: William Ruto, Kenya, Ipoa, Albert Ojwang

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/pt/n/kenya-ojwang-murder-trial