Wamuzi News Ke
Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja declared in the Senate while under oath that Albert Ojwang’ had been detained for violating the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act by posting a defamatory message on X.
An open-source probe into Ojwang’s social media behavior, however, uncovered no posts connecting his X account to the defamatory hashtag. Ojwang’s currently deleted X account took part in a separate campaign that was not connected to the one mentioned by the police on the day of the purported campaign.
IG Kanja’s testimony before the Senate is contradicted by these results. Ojwang’ maintained multiple profiles on various social media sites. Following the mysterious deactivation of his X account @finest_likoni, which last posted on June 6, 2025, the day before his arrest, the only active accounts left are his Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts.
Investigators discovered Ojwang’s X account had published “similar defamatory content,” according to Kanja. Our examination of his social media posts casts doubt on IG Kanja’s assertion.
We discovered that Ojwang’s account did not post using the hashtag MafiaPolice, contrary to the IG’s initial assertion. Ojwang’s arrest in the first place is questioned by the lack of posts from his account that connect him to the campaign.
A search for keywords used in the campaign does not show any connections between the MafiaPolice hashtag that the police were looking into and Ojwang’s @finest_likoni account.
Additionally, while promoting MafiaPolice on June 3, 2025, the @finest_likoni account collaborated with other influencers under the separate hashtag TransformingKajiado.
Positive remarks about Kajiado governor Joseph Ole Lenku dominate the hashtag, and other comparable accounts have also shared it. Kelvin Moinde, an X influencer and blogger, was detained on June 5 in Kenyenya, Kisii County, on the same charge of false publication that was brought against Ojwang’.
Moinde’s profile mirrors that of Ojwang in several ways; both are young men with a significant presence on Facebook and X, which they utilize to make money. Kevin Moishyleez, who goes by the name Moinde on Facebook, has more than a thousand followers.
His posts include news updates, photos of events and brands, personal images, and football material. Moinde and Albert were friends on Facebook and followed each other on Instagram, so they knew each other.
Moinde frequently posted using his Facebook account until June 5, 2025, and connected his other social media accounts, including the now-deactivated X account @kevimoishyleez mentioned above.
On June 3, 2025, the MafiaPolice campaign included an X account with the handle @kevimoishyleez, which was connected to Ojwang’s co-accused, Kevin Moinde. The caption of one post reads, “Joseph Chirchir’s arrest by EACC was no accident,” and it includes a fake Daily Nation front page.
IG Kanja said that Kelvin Moinde had given a statement following interrogation that revealed the names and respective X handles of four other people in the hashtag campaign: Albert Ojwang, Dorcas Mawia, Douglas Marigiri, and Peter Mbugua.
There is proof of Moinde’s participation; however, Ojwang’s now-deleted account does not provide any evidence of such posts.
The @kevimoishyleez account, which was deactivated, also shared this headline, along with a fake Daily Nation front page that was utilized in the MafiaPolice campaign on June 3, 2025.
IG Kanja stated, “The team’s analysis of Ojwang’s X account revealed that he had posted similar defamatory content and consequently, on June 7, 2025,” as the Police investigative team sought further information from the Communications Authority regarding another X account handle, @kevimoishyleez.
Further casting doubt on the legitimacy of Ojwang’s arrest is the absence of any proof of his participation or any posts from his account using the hashtag.
Although it is possible that Ojwang’ deleted the offensive posts, everything we’ve seen since his arrest and murder suggests that he had no reason to delete any posts and was not aware of his upcoming arrest in advance.
Mohamed Amin, the head of the DCI, stated in answer to Senate inquiries that the DCI frequently arrests suspects in their actual whereabouts under the Cybercrimes Act to minimize the risk of those suspects deleting digital evidence.
The recording of the phone call Just prior to calling his wife at 9:24 p.m., Ojwang had a little chat with an unidentified person who seemed to be a friend or coworker of his at 8:52 p.m.
The caller tells Ojwang’ that Kevin Moinde has been arrested and that he will come see him at Central Police Station. Ojwang’ asks, “Have you ever been arrested?” and then poses a now sinister question: “Will I be safe?”.
He speaks with a trembling voice. Ojwang’s coworker poses a crucial question that may indicate his innocence—namely, that he was not engaged in the hashtag campaign in issue—while they are on the line.
The audio recording concludes soon after. The caller inquires of Ojwang’, “Ni tag ulifanya ama? (Is this because of a hashtag you promoted?)”, to which he responds that he is unsure.
Hours after being apprehended in Homa Bay County and taken to Nairobi, he appears to be completely unaware of the cause of his arrest.
What do Ojwang’s digital traces reveal about him and his death while in police custody? a family guy, a teacher, and a football enthusiast Albert was a football fan, especially of his favorite team, Manchester United.
He frequently published favorable comments about the Red Devils on his Facebook page. The header photo on his X account showed a United jersey. In reality, those who knew Ojwang stated that his moniker was “Alberto Januzaj,” after Adnan Januzaj, a former Manchester United player.
He also appeared to value his family. Albert was born on July 7, 1994, to Meshack Ojwang, a quarry worker in Malindi who later returned to Homa Bay County. A celebratory post on Ojwang’s Facebook page, which also showcased his part-time work as an influencer, confirmed that he graduated from Pwani University with a Bachelor of Education in February 2023.
He routinely published updates about political issues, sports, and other marketing brands, ranging from restaurants to gambling firms, to his over 5,900 thousand fans.
His Facebook account, which appeared to be the platform where he mainly posted, aside from X, was used for influencing as well, but had a smaller audience than his Instagram account, albertojanuzaj2. Ojwang’s love for teaching was evident in his last Facebook post, which he published on June 1, 2025.
He geolocated a photo of himself standing in front of a blackboard in Kilifi in 2019, with the caption “Teaching is a call.” Ojwang’ operated an X account, @finest_likoni, whose information indicates a direct link to him. First, the name of the account, Mwalimu Mkuu Alberto Januzaj, corresponds to Ojwang’s academic credentials.
He went by the name Alberto Januzaj to his friends, and it was also the name he used on his Facebook page. Pwani University – Ojwang’ alma mater is located in Kilifi, Kenya, which is the account’s second location.
He also posted several pictures of himself in Kilifi, Malindi on Facebook. All of these coinciding elements give us a lot of confidence that the account @finest_likoni was managed by Albert Ojwang before it was suspiciously deactivated following his arrest on June 7, 2025.
Finally, the profile featured a header image of a Manchester United player, Ojwang’s favorite football team, as previously stated. This archived link to the account prior to its deactivation is still accessible because Piga Firimbi investigated and revealed it as part of a previous influence operation in 2023.
The Deadly Hashtag Google indexed data shows that, like their Facebook accounts, the users were active on X until June 6 and 7—the days they were detained in Homa Bay and Kisii—despite the fact that both Ojwang’s and Moinde’s accounts are deactivated.
Additionally, it demonstrates that they were influencer accounts utilized to promote a wide range of campaigns, including sports betting brands, events, and political material like WhyKumiBilaBreak, NimehamaMtaa, and AtwoliLegacyInLeadership, as illustrated in the instance of @kevimoishyleez below.
According to the police, the tweets that led to Moinde and Ojwang’s arrest implicated DIG Lagat and another senior officer, Joseph Chirchir, in alleged corruption within the National Police Service.
On June 3, 2025, the fake front pages, including the one posted below, were spread. The first post with the hashtag was shared at 8:00 AM by the now-deactivated account @_KAISERTONIZZ. Three days later, on June 6, 2025, the Standard newspaper identified the front page as fake on its official X account.
The MafiaPolice influence campaign lasted for hours on June 3, 2025, with hundreds of posts utilizing the hashtag. Its usage dramatically decreased on June 4, 2025.
This abrupt spike in usage is in line with other hashtags that Piga Firimbi has looked at, which utilize dis/misinformation to gain popularity online.
Questions remain about the safety of detained individuals in police custody, despite Constable James Mukhwana, a police officer, being formally charged with planning and executing Albert Ojwang’s arrest.
