Albert Ojwang murder trial adjourned to December 14

The High Court in Kibera has adjourned the murder trial of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang to December 14.

On the date, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) head of forensics and crime scene investigations, Joshua Mutua, is expected to return for further cross-examination.

Justice Diana Kavedza issued the directions on Wednesday after the prosecution concluded Mutua's examination-in-chief, during which he presented CCTV evidence recovered from Central Police Station and Mbagathi Hospital.

The hearing during the day focused on CCTV footage retrieved from Mbagathi Hospital, which captured the police vehicle transporting Ojwang after it left Central Police Station in the early hours of June 8, 2025.

As the footage played in court, Justice Kavedza observed that the officers captured in the recordings appeared to move without urgency despite Mutua's earlier testimony that Ojwang appeared unresponsive when he was carried from the cells.

"My take was there was no urgency to rush the victim to the attention of medics," Mutua told the court while agreeing with the judge's observation.

The court heard that the footage shown on Wednesday was the original CCTV recording recovered from Mbagathi Hospital.

According to Mutua, the footage showed the police vehicle arriving at the hospital before Ojwang's body, covered with a white sheet, was removed from the rear compartment and placed onto a stretcher.

Justice Kavedza, however, cautioned that no pathologist was present at the time to determine Ojwang's medical condition.

The court further heard that Ojwang's head remained visible despite the rest of his body being covered as officers pushed the stretcher towards the casualty department at about 2.11 am.

Moments later, the CCTV showed the stretcher being brought back out before Ojwang's body was returned to the police vehicle.

Mutua also produced a certificate relating to the extraction and preservation of the hospital CCTV footage.

"I wish to certify that on June 8, I extracted CCTV footage and stored it in a 64GB flash disk. The extracted footage is 2.53GB in size, and its authenticity was confirmed," he testified.

He told the court the footage was extracted using a computer operating in the ordinary course of business and that the system had no known defects.

Mutua further certified that the electronic evidence had not been modified, altered or interfered with during the extraction and handling process.

His testimony followed two days of detailed evidence in which he narrated CCTV recordings from Central Police Station, tracing Ojwang's movements from the time he arrived at the station on the night of June 7, 2025, until he was later carried from the cells and placed in a police vehicle.

With the prosecution concluding its examination-in-chief, Justice Kavedza directed that Mutua will return to court on December 14 for further cross-examination by the defence. 

The court also set aside additional hearing dates for the continuation of the trial.

Ojwang died following his alleged arrest and subsequent detention at Central Police Station on June 7, 2025.

Standing trial are former Central Police Station former Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Samson Kiprotich Talaam, Police Constable James Mukhwana, Police Constable Peter Kimani, John Ngige Gitau, Gin Ammitou and Brian Mwaniki.

All six have denied the murder charge.