HOMA BAY, Kenya — In a quiet village in Homa Bay County, a grieving family has received a gift that is both heartbreaking and healing.
Governor Gladys Wanga handed over a newly built, fully furnished three-bedroom house to Meshack Ojwang, father of the late Albert Ojwang, whose death in police custody last month shocked the nation.
“This was Albert’s dream,” Wanga said during the handover in Kokwanyo village. “Today, as we receive Albert’s body home, his dream to build his parents a new house is fulfilled in his absence. May justice prevail.”
The new house replaces a crumbling structure where Albert grew up a house with faded maroon walls, rusted iron sheets, and barely enough space for a family. For years, he had hoped to replace it with something better.
Now, that dream has been realised, though under painful circumstances.
Painted a soft peach with white trim, the house stands modest but dignified. A red, gabled roof caps the structure, while metallic-framed windows let sunlight flood into its freshly painted rooms. At the entrance, a small veranda welcomes visitors with tiled flooring and two concrete pillars.
Everything was done in under three weeks.
Governor Wanga made the promise on June 16, during a condolence visit to the Ojwang family. “I will donate a three-bedroom house so that Mzee will have a decent home,” she had said then. “Mourners will come, sit in a tent, eat and leave, but Mzee deserves a better place to live.”
The home cost Sh1.5 million, funded and overseen by the Homa Bay County government. Power was connected a day after the Governor’s visit, and plans are already in motion to drill a water point for the family and neighbours.
But behind the cheerful paint and new walls, the pain remains.
Albert Ojwang, a young man known for his strong community ties, was arrested in June while visiting his family in Homa Bay. He was later transferred to Nairobi by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. Days later, he was dead.
Details surrounding his death are still unclear. Authorities have yet to provide a full account of what happened while he was in custody. His case has sparked national outrage and protests demanding justice.
