22/07/2026
The growing focus on junior officers in the Albert Ojwang case should not stop Kenyans from asking why Eliud Lagat appears to be drifting away from the centre of the story.
Albert was arrested over a complaint linked to Lagat, transported from Homa Bay to Nairobi and later died in police custody, yet responsibility now appears to be narrowing around those lower in the chain.
That should worry everyone.
The State may present arrests, CCTV footage and selected details as proof that justice is being done, but accountability cannot end with the people who carried out the operation while the senior officer whose complaint triggered it is treated like a distant observer.
Kenyans must not be carried in a stupid way.
If junior officers must answer, then the country must also be told what role Eliud Lagat played, what instructions were issued, who approved Albert’s movement and who expected reports from those handling him.
There were reports that Albert was removed from the cell at Central Police Station and taken to meet a senior National Police Service official at Karura forest torture chambers and it was at this point he was tortured in the presence of this senior official till he collapsed and died, they returned a body to Central Police station to stage a crime scene......
A command structure cannot be visible when orders are being followed and suddenly disappear when a citizen dies.
No one is asking that Lagat be convicted without evidence, but neither should he quietly walk free while those below him carry the entire burden.
The real test of this investigation is whether the full chain of command will be exposed, including Eliud Lagat’s role, without fear, favour or selective protection.
