# Kenya police clash with protesters over blogger Albert Ojwang's death in custody
Police in Nairobi fired tear gas on 2025-06-12 to disperse protesters angered by the death of blogger Albert Ojwang in police custody, after a case that has intensified scrutiny of Kenya's security services and the conduct of senior officials.
The supplied reporting says the demonstrations turned violent, with vehicles set on fire and a road leading to parliament blocked as the national budget was due to be presented. Protesters demanded the resignation of deputy police chief Eliud Lagat, who had been linked to the arrest that preceded Ojwang's death.
Ojwang was arrested in Homa Bay on allegations of publishing false information about Lagat and later driven about 400 kilometres to Nairobi, where he died in custody. Police initially said he died after hitting his head against a cell wall, but President William Ruto later said Ojwang died "at the hands of the police" and described the death as heartbreaking and unacceptable. The inspector general of police, Douglas Kanja, also apologised for earlier implying Ojwang died by suicide.
The reporting says an autopsy found injuries including a head injury, neck compression and soft tissue damage, pointing towards assault as the cause of death. Amnesty International and local activists had questioned the police account from the outset, and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority has opened an investigation.
The case has become politically sensitive because it touches both on police accountability and on the wider atmosphere around criticism of authority in Kenya. Ojwang was known for posts on X and Facebook about political and social issues. His death has now moved from a custody dispute into a broader test of trust in policing, with public anger meeting official statements of concern and promises of review.
The supplied evidence supports a sequence that is now hard to separate: arrest, transport, custody death, contradictory police explanations, an autopsy suggesting violence, and a street response that disrupted central Nairobi. What it does not provide is a full account of the investigation's next steps or any final determination of criminal responsibility.
Still, the immediate political effect is clear. Lagat is under pressure to step aside, the police are publicly on the defensive, and the president has already condemned the case in unusually direct terms. With the budget presentation day overshadowed by the protests, Ojwang's death has become a defining public order and human-rights issue.
The event date is 2025-06-12.
