Protests in the Kenyan capital Nairobi intensified on Thursday, with vehicles set ablaze and police firing teargas to disperse crowds angered by the death in custody of a political blogger last week, Reuters TV footage showed.
The death of 31-year-old Albert Ojwang, who blogged on political and social issues, is the latest case to throw a spotlight on the country’s security services, who have been accused of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances for years.
Police used teargas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the capital, with at least two vehicles set on fire, Reuters TV footage showed, a day after President William Ruto said Ojwang had died “at the hands of the police”, reversing earlier official accounts of his death.
Police had initially said Ojwang was arrested in western Kenya on Friday for allegedly defaming the country’s deputy police chief Eliud Lagat, online and died “after hitting his head against a cell wall.”
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority watchdog has launched an investigation, while the European Union and the United States have called for a transparent probe into the blogger’s death.
Protesters demanded Lagat’s resignation on Thursday, with some carrying Kenyan flags and chanting “Lagat must go”.
The blogger’s wounds, including a head injury, neck compression and soft tissue damage, pointed to assault as the cause of death, according to pathologist Bernard Midia, who was part of a team that conducted an autopsy.
On Wednesday, Police Inspector General Douglas Kanja apologised for the police having previously implied that Ojwang died by suicide.
“Based on the report by IPOA … it is not true… He did not hit his head against the wall,” Kanja told a Senate hearing.
