Mumias East constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Salasya now wants Police Constable (PC) James Mukhwana to be turned into a state witness.
In a statement shared via his official Instagram account on the night of Monday, June 16, 2025, Salasya said that Mukhwana should also be offered state security.
This is after Mukhwana, in his latest statement to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), revealed that orders to have Albert Ojwang tortured came from senior police officers.
Saved by truth
According to Salasya, the decision by Mukhwana to say the truth will save him, as the law also shows mercy for someone being truthful to the court.
While referencing slain lawyer Willy Kimani’s case, Salasya argued that police officers who spoke the truth during the case were spared long jail terms as compared to their accomplices.
“In this matter, Mukhwana must now be a state witness and be guaranteed with state security. In the matter of the lawyer Willy Kimani, who was killed, the police who said the truth were saved from long-term jail compared to others. I think the decision of Mukhwana to say the truth will save him, as the law also plays mercy for someone being truthful to the court. #JusticetoOjwang is justice to all Gen Z who were killed previously and anyone who has suffered under police brutality,” Salasya stated.
Mukhwana’s account
In his latest statement to IPOA that went viral on Monday, June 16, 2025, Mukhwana disclosed that four civilian detainees at Nairobi’s Central Police Station were paid Ksh2,000 and later bought alcohol to assault Ojwang under direct instructions from senior police officers.
Mukhwana, a 31-year-old officer stationed at Central Police Station, provided a detailed account to IPOA investigators on June 13, 2025. In his statement, he recounted being summoned by Deputy Officer Commanding Station (OCS) IP Ng’ang’a on June 7, 2025, to the office of OCS Samson Talam.
Mukhwana says that Talam, acting on orders from Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat, instructed him to orchestrate an assault on a suspect soon to be brought to the station by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers.
“The OCS told me, ‘There’s a directive from DIG Mr. Lagat… I want you to go to the cells, talk to the remandees, and tell them there’s a job I want them to do,’” Mukhwana told IPOA in his statement.
He was then handed KSh2,000 to buy alcohol and incentivise the detainees to “discipline” the suspect, later identified as Ojwang.
“Chukua hii elfu mbili enda ongelesha mahabusu. Kuna mtu analetwa, nataka wamshughulikie kidogo, na ni amri kutoka kwa mkubwa,” Talam said.
According to Mukhwana, he approached a detainee named Ngige, a long-term remandee, and instructed him to find others to carry out the task. Ngige identified three inmates, Gil Ammiton, Collins Ireri, Eric Ndambuki, and Brian Mwaniki, who were later arrested by IPOA for their alleged role in the assault.
Mukhwana admitted to purchasing alcohol from the station’s canteen and delivering it to the detainees to inspire them for the task. The assault took place in the last cell opposite the toilets, where Ojwang was beaten severely, resulting in critical injuries.
