Video: Witness explains how CCTV system was tampered with after Ojwang's death

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

- A CCTV technician took the stand as the first prosecution witness in the murder trial of former OCS Samson Talaam and five co-accused

- The technician told the High Court that the DVR at Central Police Station had been formatted, wiping footage

- The DPP told the court it will prove that Ojwang was brought into custody alive and was assaulted to death, with the killing subsequently covered up

Nairobi: The murder trial of former Nairobi Central Police Station Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Samson Talaam and five co-accused has been opened at the Kibera High Court on Monday, July 20, 2026.

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Renson Ingonga, told the court it would prove that Talaam and the five others assaulted Albert Omondi Ojwang to death inside the station and subsequently attempted to conceal what had happened.

CCTV footage deleted, witness tells court

Testifying as the first prosecution witness, CCTV technician Aloni Okwako told the court he was sent to the station on June 9, 2025, after his employer received a report that the station's Digital Video Recorder (DVR) had developed a fault.

On arrival, Okwako found officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) already at the premises. They directed him to inspect the DVR, which was located inside the OCS's office.

He told the court the device was switched off because its power cable had been disconnected, even though the CCTV cameras themselves were still receiving power.

IPOA officers photographed and filmed every step as Okwako reconnected the cable and powered the system back on.

The officers then asked Okwako to retrieve footage recorded on June 6 and 7, 2025. He testified that after logging into the system, he found no recordings for either date.

His conclusion was that the DVR had been formatted, meaning the data investigators needed had been deliberately erased.

Okwako further told the court that once the DVR casing was opened, he noticed that several internal components had been removed prior to IPOA officers completing their documentation of the device.

How Central Police CCTV system was tampered with

The witness, presenting technical findings before the court, used a display screen to walk court users present through the internal components of a recovered device.

Images shown during the session revealed disassembled electronic equipment, including a circuit board, cabling, and Western Digital hard drives laid out on a blue cloth-covered surface, pointing to a forensic examination of the recording hardware.

Okwako indicated that the storage media from the police station's surveillance system had been wiped, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding Ojwang's death and whether video evidence that could have shed light on events inside the station was deliberately destroyed.

The technical presentation appeared designed to establish, through the physical examination of the hardware, that any footage that may have captured activity at the station during the relevant period was no longer recoverable.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.