IPOA opens investigation into the death of bodaboda rider in a police cell

Chairperson of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) Ahmed Issack Hassan during the Missing Voices Annual Report Launch on brutal policing shedding light on Statistics and Trends of Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Kenya 2024 on May 7, 2025. [Standard, Kanyiri Wahito]

Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched a probe into the death of bodaboda rider Leon Matoke while in police custody.

Leon is reported to have been taken into detention on Thursday, December 11, but was reported dead hours later, before his lifeless body was transferred to the Nairobi Funeral Home (City Mortuary).

In a statement, IPOA revealed that its officers were following leads to establish whether police officers at the Kawangware Police Post were involved in the incident.

“Mr. Matoke, a Boda Boda rider, had been detained at the Police Post pending transfer and booking at Muthangari Police Station in Nairobi County on Thursday, 11 December 2025,” the IPOA Chairperson, Isaack Hassan.

He added: “As part of the investigation, the Authority has already visited and documented the scene, established contacts of the family, and attended the post-mortem at the City Mortuary today, Monday, 15 December 2025.”

VOCAL Africa, a human rights defender, disputed a police narrative which suggested that the 23-year-old man had hung himself using a t-shirt, a position shared by the family of the deceased, who claim his neck had injuries allegedly inflicted using a wire.

Additionally, the family questioned the source of the t-shirt alleged to have ended the life of the father of one child, given that he had all his clothes on when they first viewed his body.

“How is it that, today, the story has suddenly changed and now they [police] are saying that he used a shoe lace to hang himself? These inconsistencies are a clear indication of a cover-up. We are asking the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and IPOA to leave no stone unturned,” said VOCAL Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid.

Khalid demanded an immediate shutdown of the Kawangware Police Post, saying that they had received several other cases of human rights abuses within the facility.

“We suspect that goons from that area may be working closely with the police from that post to harass, maim, and kill people,” he stated.

Speaking after the autopsy exercise, Leon’s devastated mother appealed for help to return the body to their rural home for burial.

The authority said it would recommend prosecution should it find any officer liable for the death.

Leon’s death adds to several other deaths that occurred in police cells this year, including the murder of teacher Albert Ojwang.