Former prime minister Raila Odinga during Madaraka Day. Odinga has called on NPS to check its actions, following the death of X blogger, not to plunge the country into chaos. Photo: Raila Odinga X.
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party Leader Raila Odinga, has condemned the killing of X blogger Albert Omondi Ojwang’ in the hands of police at Central police Station in Nairobi.
Through a statement issued on June, Tuesday 10, Raila said that the death of Ojwang’ negatively taints the image of the National Police Service (NPS), and further loses it credibility and authority among Kenyans. According to him, the act is a catalyst to chaos and collapse of any society.
“Mr. Ojwang’ joins the horrifying long list of young and defenseless Kenyans whose lives have been taken too soon, in brutal and senseless circumstances, at the hands of the police. While these deaths cause tremendous pain to individuals and other families, they seriously erode the authority and credibility of the police and the state, that is a significant step towards chaos and collapse,” read the statement.
Additionally, he called for a speedy investigation into the matter, including those he has been calling since the start of demonstrations in 2023, stating that Ojwang’s case is not an isolated one.
“A speedy and credible closure to this latest incident of injustice in the hands of the police, alongside the many others we have been pursuing since 2023, is not optional,” Odinga stated.
Raila said that the acts of the police in the recent days, have made it difficult to differentiate between police injustice and mob justice, acts that make the country stare at its downfall.
“When citizens can no longer tell the difference between the two forms of injustice-police and mob justice, we are staring at the reality failure as a nation. The National Police Service must commit to and take concrete actions to hold their own accountable, beginning with this senseless death of Albert Ojwang’,” He demanded.
Odinga demands reinforce earlier demands made by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), demanding speedy, open and transparent investigations into the death of Ojwang’. Additionally, LSK directed that IG Douglas Kanja makes public the names of officers interdicted from Central Police Station.
