Hours after angry youths carrying the body of the slain teacher and social media activist Albert Ojwang set ablaze sections of the Mawego police station, Homa Bay MP Peter Kaluma has defended local youths, distancing them from the event.
Taking to his X account on Thursday evening, the vocal lawmaker attributed the incident to purported goons hired from Nairobi.
“The goons who have burnt Mawego Police Station were ferried from Nairobi,” Kaluma alleged.
Kaluma strongly defended students from Mawego National Polytechnic and the wider Homa Bay community, insisting they had no role in the destruction of the police station.
According to him, the youths lived near the police station for years, respected the law enforcement officers, worked with them, and had no reason to burn the station.
“Our Students from Mawego and our students from across our land didn’t burn the Station. They have lived with the Station all these years, and even after our son Albert Ojwang was killed,” Kaluma continued.
In the puzzling turn of events yesterday afternoon, angry youths took hold of Ojwang's body, in hundreds of numbers, they marched to the Mawego Police station where he was first held. The youth were demanding justice for his death.
Videos circulating on social media showed the coffin being carried through the streets, with mourners waving placards and confronting the police post where Ojwang was first held.
Officers reportedly fled the scene before the crowd arrived, leaving the station unguarded.
What began as a peaceful procession to the station quickly turned chaotic when the emotionally charged youths set the police station on fire.
The fire destroyed key offices, including the Officer Commanding Station's office, and critical documents such as the occurrence book and witness statements. Police reinforcements arrived later but were unable to salvage much from the blazing ruins.
Ojwang was arrested at his father's home last month and taken to Mawego Police Station before being transferred to Nairobi, where he died at the Central Police Station while in police custody.
The chaos comes as the country awaits Ojwang's burial scheduled for July 4 in Kokwanyo village, Homa Bay County.
