Ipoa probes factory worker's death in Homa Bay police cell

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) is investigating circumstances under which a sugar factory worker died in police custody in Homa Bay County, moments after being handed over by his employer on accusations of theft.

There are conflicting accounts on the death of Mr Dan Buoge, a garbage collector at Sukari Industries Limited, with police claiming he hanged himself at the Ndhiwa Police Station cells. But his colleagues allege that he was thoroughly beaten within the miller’s premises and critically injured before being handed over to the police.

Drama began on Saturday when Mr Buoge, 40, was accused of stealing at the factory where he had worked for six years as a driver of a garbage collection truck.

The management of Sukari Industries Limited, located at Riat trading centre in Ndhiwa Sub-County, accused him of stealing some pieces of metal at the plant with the intention of taking them home for personal use.

"The metals were hidden underneath the garbage which he had carried on a trailer. A team of security officials detected this and alerted us," the firm's general manager, David Okoth, said.

He said the metals are essential to the factory and were still being used at the plant.

Arrested

After the discovery that the metals had been stolen, Mr Okoth said security officers from Ndhiwa were called to arrest the driver.

"We later got a call from police that the driver was dead at Ndhiwa Police Station," he said.

But employees at the factory had a different version of the story following the news of Mr Buoge’s death on Monday morning.

According to the workers who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, the driver was attacked within the factory before being handed over to the police while in a critical condition.

But according to security officers in Ndhiwa, the man committed suicide inside the police cells on Saturday night.

Two offences

Ndhiwa Sub-County Police Commander Robert Aboki said Mr Buoge hanged himself using an overall that he was wearing.

Mr Aboki said the man was to be charged with two offences including attempted murder.

At the factory, Mr Buoge is said to have endangered the lives of other workers when he drove off his tractor with the aim of escaping arrest.

"He tried to escape upon realising that he was going to be arrested. He drove out of the factory using the tractor when police were called in to arrest him after he was accused of theft," Mr Aboki said.

A statement recorded at Ndhiwa Police Station stated that Mr Buoge was about to plunge the tractor into River Kuja when it suddenly stopped at the edge of the river after hitting a pothole.

Workers injured

The report stated that some factory workers who were at the back of the trailer were injured during the incident.

"Workers who were at the back of the trailer jumped off the moving vehicle when the driver was about to plunge into the river. He was arrested and taken to the police station. He was to face two charges, including attempted murder because his actions led to injuries," Mr Aboki said.

Police have dismissed claims by workers at the factory that the driver was attacked at the firm before being handed over to them.

Mr Aboki said investigations into the matter were underway, including a probe by Ipoa.

Protests

There was tension at the private sugar miller’s premises on Monday following the driver’s death.

More than 100 workers at Sukari Industries staged a demonstration when they learned about their colleague’s death.

They vowed not to resume work until justice prevails for their colleague, arguing that he was wrongly accused.

The protestors, who demanded to know what killed their colleague, paralysed operations at the factory, affecting cane harvesting in Homa Bay and Migori counties.

Calm slowly returned to the factory on Tuesday morning with some employees returning to work.

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