Police to review CCTV, eyewitness accounts in probe on MP's shooting

Detectives revisited the scene where Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were was shot dead along Valley Road just opposite Daystar University.

Sleuths from Homicide and Scenes of Crime Units reconstructed the scene as they tried to piece together clues and evidence that might assist them in nailing Were’s killers. The MP was being driven to his Karen Ngong View Estate when his life was cut short on Wednesday evening.

The second-term MP was in the company of his driver and bodyguard, both of whom escaped unhurt in the drive-by shooting incident that threw security agents in a spin.

According to eyewitness accounts, including those by traffic officers, Were’s Toyota Crown car KDN 783A had stopped at the City Mortuary Roundabout to allow traffic flow along Ngong Road when two gunmen riding on a motorbike ambushed him.

The motorbike slightly rode past the MP’s car before the armed pillion passenger disembarked, walked back a few steps, pulled a gun and aimed at Were, who was on the front passenger seat.

“Eyewitnesses have indicated that a motorcycle carrying a rider and a pillion passenger stopped alongside the car. The pillion passenger approached the vehicle and fired shots at the passenger side before jumping back onto the motorcycle and speeding away,” said police Spokesman Muchiri Nyaga in a statement.

According to Muchiri, the nature of the crime appeared to be targeted and premeditated. “At this stage, it is too early to provide further detail,” states Muchiri.

In front of the MP’s car was one vehicle waiting to exit into the roundabout. After fatally shooting Were, the gunman jumped onto the motorbike that took off.

Shot in the chest

Meanwhile, the lawmaker’s driver made a U-turn at the roundabout, speeding to Nairobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. A senior detective said the MP was shot four times in the chest with one bullet exiting through the back.

“But the postmortem exercise will reveal the exact number of times he was shot,” said the investigator.

Facing the scene where the MP was shot at around 7:30 pm is a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera mounted at the Roundabout. Detectives will rely on the footage from moments before and after the fatal shooting incident.

As homicides and scenes of crime officers combed the scene on Thursday morning, another team was reviewing CCTV cameras around the city to aid in tracking the movement of the motorcycle-riding gunmen.

Martin Nyaguto, the head of the Homicide Unit, led officers in reconstructing the scene where Were’s driver and bodyguard were present. The two aides recounted to the investigators what they saw while demonstrating what happened.

Police believe the MP was killed by a marksman and that it was not an ordinary crime. Speculation was rife that the killing could be politically-instigated back home in Homa Bay County, where Were in the recent past has been caught in violent feuds.

Not long ago, the MP had complained that his life was in danger. His political rivals had been accusing him of using goons to disrupt their functions, including funeral events.

In February, violence erupted at Nyatindo village after a group of youth attempted to block him from attending a burial.

How the MP was ambushed was an indication that the mission was to kill him. Detectives are now trying to unmask killers who appear to have trailed the lawmaker before pulling the trigger as he waited for traffic to clear.

“Tracking them might take time, and that is why it is necessary not to talk much about what we’re doing,” said a detective.

Following the shooting, detectives recovered three spent cartridges at the scene on the night Were was executed soon after leaving Parliament, where he had spent the better part of the afternoon on Wednesday.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, while visiting injured police officers admitted to Nairobi West Hospital, said yesterday investigations into Were’s murder are in top gear.

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga accompanied by Woman Representative Joyce Osogo Atieno and Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma visited their colleague’s home in Karen Ngong View Estate where they urged the government to expedite investigations.

Following the incident, several senior government officials, led by Internal Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Amin Mohamed, rushed to Nairobi Hospital where they assured that the killers will be brought to book.