In a somber event, a family in the capital, Nairobi, is still grappling with the aftermath of the death of a member who succumbed while under arrest by the police, raising serious concerns over safety within the cells of the Kenyan police force.
The 23-year-old boda boda operator was arrested on Thursday evening, December 11, 2025, at approximately 7pm, with his body being registered at City Mortuary by 10:50pm, only a short four hours later.
The police alleged that the young man had taken his own life, taking his own life by hanging on a T-shirt he used while in the cell alone. This, however, has been vehemently disputed by the young man’s family, who argued that it is highly implausible.
Relatives who saw his body reported that he is wearing the same clothes he had on when he was arrested, casting doubts on reports that a shirt, specifically a T-shirt, was used on him. The relatives also said that the alleged T-shirt has not been offered as evidence.
Even more alarming to the family is the presence of a visible ligature mark around the neck area of the deceased, which appears to indicate strangulation by wire rather than suicide.
“He entered the custody of the law alive and healthy,” said a relative. “Now we are being told he has killed himself, even though there are bruises on his neck with no evidence to support that assertion.”
The young cyclist has a two-year-old daughter.
This incident happens against a backdrop of rising citizen concerns regarding deaths in police custody, following a spate of high profile cases that came to light this year.
Only six months ago, the people of Kenya were shocked by the death of a blogger and teacher named Albert Ojwang, who passed on while in detention at Nairobi Central Police Station back in June 2025. Ojwang was arrested in Homa Bay for making derogatory postings on X, which led to his transfer to Nairobi, where he was discovered lifeless in a cell at Mbagathi Hospital.
The police started by claiming that Ojwang had injured himself by banging his head against a wall. However, a post-mortem revealed that the head had been badly injured, with the compression of the neck, which suggested that he had been assaulted. The inspector general of police, Douglas Kanja, later apologized for the police’s previous claims, which saw the arrest of several police officers.
There appears to be a trend. The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), in a report filed on December 10, 2025, indicates that a minimum of 97 persons have been killed by the police this year. This includes 18 persons who died while in police custody, together with others who suffered torture, ill-treatment, injuries from protests, as well as cases of forced disappearances.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has initiated inquiries over the Kawangware death as well as the Ojwang death before that. But for the families who are left behind, the investigative process is painfully slow.
” relatives of the latest suspect to die in detention say they are no longer seeking answers, but demanding justice, as families prepare to lay to rest yet another young Kenyan who lost his life behind police cells,” reports Reuters. “We want the truth,” said a member of the family. “Because if this can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.”
