Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) Commissioner Boniface Samati on Friday confirmed that Nairobi Central Police Station OCS Samson Talaam has been arrested by the Internal
Affairs Unit (IAU) in the ongoing probe into the murder of social media influencer Albert Ojwang.
In a press briefing, Samati explained that Taalam was handed over to IPOA and will be key in assisting the ongoing investigations.
He added that the independent body had recorded statements from more witnesses, including other suspects locked in the cells at the station on that fateful night. This, he said, will piece together the events that occurred during Ojwang’s murder while in police custody.
“We have not completed our investigations and we are only providing the status update. We are not ruling out at this stage to say there are people we have absolved or not, the issue of high-ranking officers and shifting blame, we are taking it step by step. We are building a case,” Samati pointed out.
“We have more witnesses to talk to, and we have chances of arresting more suspects. From the record, we are aware that the deceased was booked in when he was well and he was booked out when he was taken to Mbagathi,” he added.
While proving the status update, the Commissioner revealed that IPOA had documented the scene, collected blood samples and forwarded them to the government chemist.
Further, they had obtained the CCTV Digital Video Recorders (DVR) in an attempt to recover the footage.
According to Samati, three arrests have been made so far: Talaam, police constable James Mukhwana of Central Police Station and the technician who allegedly dismantled the CCTV footage.
“Mukhwana has something he knows very well because at the point when the incident happened, he was on duty,” the IPOA Commissioner remarked.
The development comes after Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohamed Amin said Talaam should be treated as the prime suspect, citing that he declined to book Ojwang when he was presented at the station, raising serious questions over his conduct and possible culpability.
“It has further been confirmed that before the booking, the report office personnel called the OCS, and unfortunately, it is being said that (Taalam is the OCS and not the OCPD) he declined to book the suspect,” Amin stated during a Senate grilling session on June 11, 2025.
