Questions surrounding the conduct of three police officers who took the late Albert Ojwang to Mbagathi Hospital took centre stage on Wednesday as his murder trial continued before the High Court.
The court heard testimony from Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) forensic investigator Joshua Mutua, who presented CCTV evidence detailing Ojwang’s final movements after he was removed from Central Police Station on June 8, 2025.
Mutua told the court he was disturbed by the time it took officers to seek medical assistance after arriving at the hospital.
CCTV footage presented in court showed the police vehicle reaching Mbagathi Hospital at 1:35 a.m., about 10 minutes after leaving Central Police Station, where prosecutors allege Ojwang had been assaulted.
Despite arriving within a short time, the officers did not immediately take him into the hospital for treatment. “My take is that there was no urgency to take the victim to be attended to by the medics,” Mutua told the court.
Justice Diana Kavedza, who is presiding over the case, also commented on the footage after observing the officers’ movements.
“For the record, in my notes, what you will see is that the officers are moving very slowly. There is no urgency in that movement to show there is a sick person in the vehicle. Is that what the defence counsel and I agree on?” Justice Kavedza said.
The recordings showed the officers walking around the hospital compound and making phone calls after parking the police vehicle. At 1:46 a.m., two officers were captured pushing a stretcher towards the van, which had remained outside the casualty section.
Another 13 minutes passed before Ojwang was finally wheeled into the casualty department at 1:59 a.m., 24 minutes after the officers had arrived at the hospital.
“The body is now being taken to the casualty,” Mutua said while describing the footage, prompting an immediate response from the judge.
“You cannot say ‘body’ at this point because you are not a pathologist,” Justice Kavedza said.
The footage further showed the officers leaving the casualty department at 2:11 a.m., shortly after medical personnel reportedly confirmed Ojwang had died.
“They were in the casualty room. They’re exiting at 2:11 a.m. That is about 10 minutes,” Justice Kavedza observed. “They load back the body into the police van at 2:12 a.m.,” Mutua testified.
The officers drove away from Mbagathi Hospital at 2:15 a.m., roughly 40 minutes after arriving, before Ojwang’s remains were later transferred to the City Mortuary.
Mutua also assured the court that the CCTV recordings produced as evidence had been forensically examined and were authentic.
His cross-examination is scheduled for December 14 as the prosecution continues relying on the surveillance footage to reconstruct the events leading to Albert Ojwang’s death.
