Ong'ondo Were murder: Police probe link between hitmen and bodyguard

It is almost a year since the country was confronted with one of the most daring and chilling assassinations in recent memory —the cold-blooded killing of former Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were at Nairobi’s Valley Road roundabout. 

Now, The Standard has obtained exclusive CCTV footage that could, for the first time, offer the clearest glimpse yet into what unfolded in the moments leading to the brazen attack on April 30, 2025,  a plot that investigators say may reach deep into the slain MP’s inner circle. 

Evidence tabled by detectives suggests that the legislator’s long-serving bodyguard, Allan Omondi Ogolla, may have attended meetings with suspected hitmen both in the days before and even on the very day that the lawmaker was gunned down. 

That Wednesday morning, Were stepped into his day unaware that it would be his last.  

A meticulous reconstruction using CCTV footage retrieved from Parliament Buildings, Standard Building on Wabera Street, Valley Road Motors, Rubis Petrol Station in Hurlingham, and surveillance cameras along Parliament Road, Harambee Avenue, Kenyatta Avenue and City Hall Way paints a chilling picture. 

Gikui Gichuhi, a senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, recently told the court: “The bodyguard entrusted with the sole responsibility of protecting the MP instead succumbed to cold, calculated greed and secretly collaborated with individuals who wanted the legislator dead, allegedly using hired assassins to carry out the plan.”  

The damning footage vividly captures crucial moments including interactions between the MP’s bodyguard and the suspected assassins minutes before the fatal shooting. 

On the morning of April 30, 2025, at exactly 6.39 am, Were was captured on CCTV arriving at Parliament Buildings. 

He was casually dressed in a reddish jersey, black-and-white striped pants and black shoes. He arrived aboard a Toyota Land Cruiser V8, registration number KDD 244V. 

The MP stepped out while his driver, Walter Owino Awino, followed closely behind carrying Were’s personal belongings — including shoes and suits wrapped in protective covers. 

Investigators believe the MP had come to Parliament for his routine morning gym session, a ritual he observed before beginning the day’s official duties. 

According to CCTV records, the vehicle spent approximately 10 minutes at Bunge Towers before leaving at 6.48 am. 

At that point, the driver departed alone and drove the vehicle back to the MP’s residence in Karen. 

According to investigators Were had instructed the driver to leave the V8 at home and instead return with another vehicle — a white Toyota Crown, registration number KDM 783A — belonging to his son, Boyd Were, now the current Kasipul MP. 

It was inside this vehicle that Were would later be shot dead. 

Whether the MP sensed danger and attempted to switch vehicles to confuse his pursuers remains unclear. 

The driver returned to Parliament at 8.37 am, parking the Toyota Crown at Ukulima Grounds within the parliamentary precincts. 

From midday onward, investigators say the movements of suspected assassins began aligning with those of the MP. 

At around 3.14 pm, CCTV footage captured motor vehicle KAZ 645Z — which investigators have linked to the suspects — moving along Harambee Avenue toward Parliament Road. A motorcycle rider dressed in a blue reflective jacket and helmet followed closely behind. 

Detectives believe the vehicle was transporting some of the suspects while others operated on the motorcycle. 

At 3.18 pm, both the vehicle and the motorcycle were captured emerging from Parliament Lane before parking near Equity Bank along Parliament Road.  Moments later, a man identified by investigators as Isaac Kuria Chege, alias “Kush” — believed to be the gunman — was seen stepping out of the vehicle carrying a black sling bag believed to contain the firearm used in the killing. 

To passers-by, he appeared to be just another pedestrian walking through the busy city centre. 

But to investigators, reconstructing the final hours of the slain MP, would later become one of the most chilling moments in the unfolding assassination plot. 

Over the next several hours, CCTV footage shows the suspects repeatedly repositioning themselves around Parliament Road, Harambee Avenue and the nearby roundabouts. 

The motorcycle rider made several reconnaissance loops around the area, while the vehicle moved between parking spots as the suspects appeared to monitor the MP’s movements with precision. 

At 6:35:20 am, a woman is seen walking from Harambee Avenue toward the parking lot where Were’s aides were waiting. 

At 6:37:48 am, the same woman — dressed in a white outfit, what appears to be a grey sweater, and carrying a black bag — approaches the security entrance.

She briefly speaks with uniformed police officers before being allowed in. She then walks into the parking area where Were’s Toyota Crown was parked and remains there for a short while. 

At 6:38:25 am, a man in a black suit holding a brown envelope approaches her from the right-hand side. He pauses briefly and appears to speak to occupants of a vehicle that is double-parked near the ambulances and adjacent to Were’s car. 

At 6.39 am, a man wearing brown trousers, a white shirt, and a black coat emerges from Were’s vehicle, which had been parked there the entire time. He briefly speaks with the man carrying the envelope under a nearby tree, while the woman stands aside. Shortly afterward, both men join her. 

At 6:50:27 am, after several minutes of conversation, the man in brown trousers and the woman board Were’s car.

The woman then pauses, places her bag inside the vehicle, and walks over to speak to someone in the car that had been double-parked next to ambulances. 

At 6:52:39 am, she returns to Were’s vehicle. They remain inside the car for several minutes. 

At 7:15:30 am, the woman exits the car and the vehicle begins to move. Moments later, Were’s bodyguard is seen running from the nearby parked vehicle. He rushes to open the driver’s door and ushers the woman back inside. The car then departs the parking area, heading toward Parliament Buildings to pick up Were. 

At 7.20 am, a woman alights from the vehicle outside the gate, after which the car proceeds to Parliament through the main entrance.

The identity of the woman captured in this frame remains a mystery. She has never been questioned by detectives over her possible link to the brutal murder of Were, or perhaps she was well known to the MP’s aides. 

Fastforward. At about 7.07 pm, a man wearing a black suit and white shirt — later identified as Allan Omondi Ogolla, the MP’s bodyguard — was captured walking near the Parliament roundabout. 

Moments later, at 7.08 pm, he crossed the road and positioned himself under a tree near Equity Bank. 

CCTV footage then shows the driver of vehicle KAZ 645Z crossing the road to meet the bodyguard. 

The two appear to converse briefly. 

According to investigators, this meeting occurred barely 20 minutes before the MP was picked up from Parliament and allegedly delivered into the hands of his killers. 

At 7.22 pm, Were was captured on CCTV speaking with colleagues inside the National Assembly lobby. 

Moments later, his bodyguard approached him and received the MP’s mobile phone and documents. 

At 7:22:51 pm, the Toyota Crown arrived at the VIP pick-up point. 

The bodyguard opened the passenger door and the MP stepped into the vehicle — pausing briefly to wave to colleagues. 

It would be the last time he was seen alive at Parliament precincts. 

The car then left Parliament with the bodyguard seated in the rear. 

Unbeknownst to the MP, investigators say, the assassins were already in motion. 

A motorcycle carrying two riders — including the suspected gunman — followed the vehicle closely as it headed toward City Hall Way.

At 7:24:22 pm, a motorcycle departs, trailing the vehicle by a few metres as it heads towards the City Hall–Parliament roundabout.

At 7:24:44 pm, the vehicle passes the Mausoleum Gate, followed closely by the same motorcycle.  At about 7:26:16 pm, near the Senate Gate, motor vehicle KAZ 645Z makes a U-turn at the Mausoleum Gate and begins following the Were’s vehicle. 

Between 7:26:55 pm and 7:27:15 pm, Ong’ondo’s vehicle proceeds towards City Hall, with the motorcycle and KAZ 645Z trailing behind. 

At 7:29 pm, CCTV footage captures a male suspect walking along Wabera Street. He is dressed in a maroon marvin cap, whitish long-sleeved shirt, bluish trousers, brown boots, and carries a black sling bag across his chest. Investigators have identified him as Isaac Kuria Chege, alias “Kush,” an alleged hitman. 

At 7:29:34 pm on Wabera Street, a man in a suit — identified as the MP’s bodyguard — is seen entering an M-Pesa shop before exiting shortly afterwards. 

At 7:30:01 pm, the alleged killer — already armed and moving around the city in search of the MP — is seen retreating while making a phone call shortly after the MP’s bodyguard leaves the shop. 

Earlier footage from Wabera Street near the Standard Building, captured at 7:19:39 pm, shows a white saloon vehicle driving along the street, followed closely by a motorcycle carrying two assailants.

The motorcycle stops a few metres ahead, and a man wearing a maroon marvin cap, a whitish long-sleeved shirt, bluish trousers, brown boots, and a black sling bag alights and walks past the M-Pesa shop, while the rider remains with the motorcycle. 

At 7:21:24 pm, the suspect returns after the man in the suit leaves the shop and boards the vehicle. At 7:21:42 pm, the suspect hurriedly mounts the motorcycle, which then follows the vehicle beyond the CCTV camera’s view. 

At 7:31:02 pm, a white Toyota Crown is captured along Valley Road, followed by a motorcycle carrying a pillion passenger wearing a maroon marvin cap, black-and-white checked shirt, and a black sling bag. At this point, only one vehicle separates the motorcycle from the Crown. 

At about 7.35 pm, the MP’s vehicle stopped at a traffic light near the City Mortuary roundabout along Ngong Road. 

It was here, investigators say, that the gunman struck. 

The killer reportedly fired at close range, fatally wounding the legislator. 

Crucially, investigators say the cameras along that specific stretch were not operational at the time. 

“All the CCTV cameras along the route were inactive,” investigators noted. 

Whether the killers had prior knowledge of this remains one of the unresolved questions in the case. 

At 7.44 pm, the suspected getaway vehicle — KAZ 645Z — was captured entering a petrol station parking area. 

The driver, identified as William Imoli Shigali, alias Imo, stepped out and made several phone calls, at one point throwing his hands in the air — moments after the MP had been shot. 

Detectives believe he played a key role in coordinating the logistics of the assassination. 

So far, five suspects are facing murder charges before Justice Diana Kavedza. 

The accused are William Imoli Shigali (alias Imo), Edwin Oduor Odhiambo (alias Machuani), Ebel Ochieng (alias Dave Calo), Isaac Kuria Chege (alias Kush), who is alleged to be the hitman, and Allan Omondi Ogola — the MP’s bodyguard — who has been charged in connection with the murder plot.