Inside the Bloody Plot: How Gangs Were Mobilised, Paid, and Backed to Crush Protests Over Ojwang’s Torture-Killing

A chilling web of political manipulation and street-level violence has emerged following the murder of blogger Albert Ojwang, whose death in police custody sparked nationwide protests, only to be met with an organised, paid counterattack. 

According to Daily Nation investigations, the violence that marred protests over Ojwang’s death wasn’t spontaneous. It was meticulously planned, days in advance. Sources now reveal that a senior Nairobi politician spearheaded the operation, working through a network of political mobilisers, estate chairpersons, and boda boda operators to crush public dissent with brutal efficiency. 

From Dagoretti North, Dagoretti South, to Mathare, local leaders were instructed to recruit desperate youth from informal settlements. These young men who are jobless and hungry, were offered between KSh1,000 to KSh2,000, armed with clubs, whips, and crude weapons, and ordered to “deal ruthlessly” with demonstrators demanding accountability for Ojwang’s death. 

One recruit from Kawangware told journalists he was assured police were “informed” and would not interfere. True to the promise, dozens of motorcycles gathered at a Valley Road petrol station, were paid and refuelled, and soon after stormed into Nairobi CBD, chanting anti-protest slogans, before descending into violent clashes on Moi Avenue. 

The confrontation was fierce. Several motorcycles were torched, and some of the goons were attacked by enraged demonstrators. One rider, caught and interrogated by the crowd on Koinange Street, confessed he had only learned of his mission: to disrupt the protest upon arrival. “I thought I was guarding shops,” he said. “But the instructions changed.” 

What stunned many onlookers was the apparent coordination between these armed gangs and the police, who stood by as chaos unfolded. Eyewitnesses saw officers turning a blind eye while protestors were assaulted by armed civilians. 

Yet, the protests themselves were sparked by something far darker, the gruesome circumstances surrounding Ojwang’s death. 

An autopsy conducted by a joint team of five pathologists, representing the government, Ojwang’s family, and human rights groups, revealed clear signs of torture: Blunt trauma to the head, Strangulation, Multiple bruises, Defensive wounds on arms and hands, Signs of asphyxiation (petechial haemorrhages and peripheral cyanosis), No medical intervention attempts, no CPR and no first aid. 

Even more damning was CCTV footage revealing that Ojwang was beaten inside the police cell around 10:00 p.m., but wasn’t taken to hospital until 1:35 a.m., over three hours later. By then, he was dead on arrival at Mbagathi Hospital. 

Cell sentry Constable James Mukhwana admitted to IPOA that he witnessed the assault and pleaded with his superior to get medical help. But nothing was done. Ojwang, a vocal critic of police brutality, appears to have been deliberately left to die. 

His family now speaks of deep sorrow and a burning quest for justice. They are planning his burial before the month ends, even as calls for independent investigations grow louder. 

This tragic saga, from torture in police custody to the paid disruption of protests, paints a terrifying picture of how state machinery and criminal gangs can intertwine to silence dissent and bury the truth. 

But Ojwang’s name, and the haunting question of “who ordered the torture?”, refuses to fade.