A High Court sitting in Nairobi has heard damning testimony revealing that critical CCTV footage from Nairobi Central Police Station was erased following the death of teacher and blogger Albert Omondi Ojwang, who died in police custody on the night of June 7, 2025.

The revelation surfaced during the murder trial of former Nairobi Central OCS Samson Talaam and five co-accused, all of whom have denied the charges.

Testifying as the prosecution’s first witness, CCTV technician Aloni Okwako told the court that he was dispatched to the station on June 9, 2025, after his employer instructed him to inspect a digital video recorder (DVR) that had allegedly developed a technical fault.

Upon arrival, he found officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) already on-site.

Okwako testified that the DVR, located inside the OCS’s office, was completely powered down. “I found the DVR switched off because the power cable had been disconnected, although the CCTV cameras were still powered on,” Okwako told the court.

Under the supervision of IPOA officers, who photographed and documented his every step, Okwako reconnected the power and booted up the system.

Investigators specifically asked him to retrieve recordings from June 6 and June 7, 2025, the crucial window surrounding Ojwang’s death.

However, a search of the storage drive yielded nothing.

“When I checked the system, I found that the DVR had been formatted and there was no footage available for June 6 and June 7,” Okwako testified.

Adding to the suspicion, the technician further revealed that upon opening the physical unit, he discovered some of its internal components had already been removed before IPOA officers could complete their documentation.

The prosecution is using Okwako’s testimony to bolster its argument that police officers deliberately tampered with and destroyed surveillance evidence to cover up the circumstances surrounding Ojwang’s fatal stint in custody. The trial before the High Court continues.