Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has issued an apology for the statement he made earlier that blogger Albert Ojwang died by suicide after knocking his head on the wall several times.
The police made the statement soon after the death of Ojwang, who had been detained at the Central Police Station, was reported.
Ojwang's was arrested at his home in Homa Bay County by DCI officers over allegations of defamation and was brought to Nairobi. The complainant in the defamation case was the Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat.
Ojwang's body was found on June 8 at the police station where he had been held.
Kanja had earlier issued a statement claiming that Ojwang killed himself by hitting his head against the wall at the Central Police Station.
He said that during routine checks by officers on duty, police discovered that Ojwang was unconscious in his cell. He was taken to Mbagathi Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, the police said.
However, according to the pathologist Bernard Midia, Ojwang's wounds were consistent with an assault by a third party.
Midia revealed that Ojwang's body had external injuries besides those to his head, which effectively ruled out the police's initial version of events that his wounds were self-inflicted.
"The cause of death is very clear. A head injury, neck compression, and we also have other injuries on other parts of the body that are pointing towards assault," Midia said.
"When you combine all the injuries in the body, they are consistent with a struggle. There were signs of struggle generally, but they are well described in the report," he added.
Appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, June 11, Kanja, while answering the question asked by Homa Bay senator Moses Kanjwang, withdrew his statement and apologised to the county and the family of Ojwang.
"Going by the report we have gotten from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), he did not hit his head on the way."
"I tender my apologies on behalf of the National Police Service (NPS) over the previous report on Ojwang's cause of death," Kanja stated.
