Police officers are required by law to immediately notify the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) whenever a person dies or suffers serious injury while in police custody or as a result of police action, with failure to make the report amounting to an offence.
IPOA Chair Duncan Ojwang said the oversight body has the legal power to begin investigations on its own once it becomes aware of such an incident and does not need to wait for a member of the public to lodge a complaint.
Speaking during a Radio Generation interview on Tuesday, Ojwang said IPOA's intervention is triggered by deaths, serious injuries and other grave consequences linked to police action, including incidents involving people held in police custody.
“If there is such a death, the police are supposed to notify IPOA immediately, and it's an offence not to. And IPOA comes in, secures the scene, takes the body, and the evidence. There is no tampering with evidence, and they take on the investigation.”
The requirement is provided for under the IPOA Act and the 2024 IPOA Regulations, which require police to preserve evidence at the scene and promptly inform the oversight authority.
The regulations also require IPOA to investigate a death occurring in police custody once the authority becomes aware of it, whether or not a member of the public has filed a complaint.
Ojwang said IPOA may take full control of an investigation or work alongside other investigative agencies, while retaining its independent oversight role.
“The duty to report has shifted to the police that in this case, if this happened, we must call us, and we must come in as soon immediately and take over. But again, you know, we are also stressed, so there are situations where they can say, ‘Okay, you do this, but we are on our way.’ But by law, they are required to report to IPOA.”
The role of IPOA in such cases has also been reinforced by a 2025 High Court ruling, which found that deaths or serious injuries in police custody resulting from police action fall specifically under IPOA's investigative mandate.
The court held that the role of the police in such cases is to preserve evidence and notify IPOA, rather than carry out separate investigations alongside the oversight authority.
Figures from IPOA show the number of cases requiring its intervention. In its January-June 2023 performance report, the authority recorded 54 deaths arising from police action, including 27 deaths that occurred in police premises or custody.
Of the 54 deaths recorded during the period, police notified IPOA of 36 cases, while 18 were not reported to the authority despite the legal requirement.
Beyond deaths and serious injuries, IPOA handles complaints against police officers, conducts investigations, inspects police facilities and monitors police operations.
For the period ending June 2024, IPOA processed 1,943 complaints and carried out 597 investigations. It forwarded 42 investigation files to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for review, while 136 cases were cumulatively before the courts by June 30, 2024.
The authority also conducted 723 inspections of police premises and detention facilities during the period.
Ojwang said IPOA has trained investigators who independently handle cases involving police officers and work with other agencies where necessary.
He said the authority receives between 3,000 and 4,000 complaints, with some matters being referred for mediation while others are investigated and sent for possible prosecution, with some eventually reaching the courts.
IPOA's mandate also includes monitoring and auditing the work of the Internal Affairs Unit, inspecting police stations and detention facilities and investigating cases of police misconduct.
Ojwang said the authority wants to put greater focus on regular inspections and audits as part of efforts to strengthen proactive oversight of police operations.
“We don't want to do investigation. We think, and we have a plan to do the auditing and inspection, because I think that is more proactive also, and equally important that we visit the police house, we visit the detention facilities, we look at the logs, we look at the OB, we interview the people are detained.”
Under the 2024 regulations, members of the public can also report deaths, serious injuries or other grave consequences arising from police action through verbal, telephone, electronic, anonymous or written complaints.
The legal framework therefore requires the National Police Service to preserve evidence and promptly alert IPOA whenever police action results in death or serious injury, while giving the oversight authority the mandate to independently investigate such cases.