PROTECTED WITNESS IN ALBERT OJWANG MURDER CASE DIES BEFORE TESTIFYING

A protected witness in the murder case involving teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang has died before he could give evidence in court, raising fresh concerns over the prosecution’s case.
Police Constable Stephen Maina Nderitu, who was attached to the office of the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Nairobi’s Central Police Station when Ojwang died in police custody, reportedly collapsed and died on Monday, September 7, 2026, shortly after leaving work.
According to reports, a post-mortem examination attributed his death to acute ulcers and cardiac arrest, with depression also cited. There is currently no confirmed evidence linking his death to his role as a witness in the Ojwang case. 

Nderitu had been expected to testify in the ongoing murder trial and provide evidence concerning events at Central Police Station following Ojwang’s death.
Investigators reportedly recorded a statement from Nderitu on May 18, 2025, containing information considered potentially significant to the investigation. His evidence was expected to shed light on allegations surrounding former Central Police Station OCS Samson Talaam and the alleged tampering with the station’s CCTV hard drive. 

The issue of CCTV evidence has already emerged as a major part of the prosecution’s case. Court proceedings have heard testimony alleging that CCTV footage covering the period surrounding Ojwang’s death was deleted and that the hard drives were formatted. Other witnesses have also given evidence concerning alleged instructions from the OCS’s office to interfere with the surveillance system. 

CCTV footage presented in court has separately shown Ojwang arriving at Central Police Station alive and walking, before later being removed from the cells unresponsive. Prosecutors have relied on the footage as part of their account of what happened during his final hours in custody. 

Nderitu’s death therefore comes at a sensitive stage of the trial, with his anticipated testimony potentially important to establishing the sequence of events inside the police station.
The circumstances surrounding his sudden death are likely to attract public attention given his status as a protected witness. However, there is currently no verified evidence that his death was connected to the Ojwang investigation, and any such conclusion would require an independent investigation.
Nderitu is reportedly scheduled to be buried next Friday as the court case continues.