The Independent Policing Oversight Authority has opened an investigation into the death of a 23-year-old boda boda rider who died while being held at Kawangware Police Post, raising serious questions over the events that led to his death just hours after his arrest.
Jack Leon Matoke was detained on Thursday evening and was later found dead at the City Mortuary only four hours after being taken into police custody.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Authority said Matoke had been held at the police post as he awaited transfer and formal booking at Muthangari Police Station in Nairobi County on Thursday, December 11, 2025. His death occurred at around 7 p.m under circumstances that remain unclear.
IPOA said its officers have already visited and documented the scene at the police post, made contact with the family, and attended the post-mortem conducted at the City Mortuary. The Authority said the information gathered so far will inform the next steps in the investigation and guide further action.
"The arising findings will guide the Authority's subsequent public communication on the status of the investigations and the actions taken, including the submission of appropriate recommendations to relevant State agencies, notably the Director of Public Prosecutions, if criminal liability is determined," IPOA noted.
Matoke, who was a father of a two-year-old daughter, has left his family devastated and seeking answers. His relatives are demanding a full and transparent investigation to establish how he died while under police watch.
“What I want is for us to know the truth about what happened and how he died,” his mother said.
Police initially told the family that Matoke had taken his own life by hanging himself with his t-shirt while in custody. However, the family strongly disputed this account, pointing to inconsistencies in the explanation given by officers.
According to Vocal Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid, who was present during the post-mortem examination at the City Mortuary on Monday, the police explanation changed after the autopsy findings emerged.
"However, following an autopsy that ruled out a t-shirt as the ligature, the police have since revised their claim, stating instead that a shoestring was used," said Khalid.
After the post-mortem results were released, Matoke’s mother broke down in grief as the findings contradicted the official police account given to the family. The results deepened concerns over the circumstances of his death and reinforced the family’s call for accountability and the truth about what happened inside the police cell.
