"I only lent it": Top officer dismisses links to Ong'ondo Were's murder

A car at the centre of investigations into the murder of Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were, allegedly used by suspects who trailed the legislator shortly before he was shot dead in Nairobi, belonged to a senior policeman.

The officer has since testified in court as a State witness in the ongoing murder trial.

The white Toyota Mark II, registration number KAZ 645Z, is owned by Assistant Commissioner of Police Juma Ali Haikal.

He told investigators that he had unknowingly lent the vehicle to one of the accused persons on the day the MP was killed.

The vehicle has since emerged as a crucial piece of evidence in the ongoing trial after CCTV footage placed it near Parliament Buildings hours before the shooting and later trailing the MP’s official vehicle as it left parliament.

The surveillance cameras captured the car around Parliament precincts from 3:14pm on April 30, 2025, hours before the fatal attack.

The footage shows the car repeatedly moving around Parliament roundabout and Harambee Avenue, at times parking nearby while maintaining proximity to a motorcycle believed to have been working in coordination with it.

According to investigators, the vehicle had two occupants, a driver and a passenger, during the surveillance near Parliament.

At some point, the passenger was seen alighting from the vehicle, pacing near Parliament Buildings, making phone calls and later interacting with the motorcycle rider before returning to the car.

The vehicle was later captured following the MP’s car, registration number KDM 783A, as it left parliament and moved through Nairobi’s central business district towards Hurlingham area. 

The MP was eventually shot dead at close range along Valley Road near the Ngong Road roundabout later that evening.

According to Haikal’s statement to investigators and testimony in court, he bought the Toyota Mark II from one of the suspects, William Imoli Shigali, about a year before the murder.

He said he purchased the car for Sh300,000 in March or April 2024, paying in cash.

Although the two did not sign a formal sale agreement, Haikal said Imoli handed over the vehicle’s original logbook at the time of purchase, which he still has in his possession.

The police officer told investigators he had known Imoli for about seven months before buying the vehicle after previously hiring his matatu for social events.

“I had hired his matatu for a burial in Machakos and later for a wedding function. That is how we came to know each other,” he stated.

According to Haikal, Imoli operated a matatu, and the two maintained contact even after the vehicle was sold.

On the morning of April 30, 2025, the day the Kasipul MP was killed, Haikal said that he received a call from Imoli requesting to use the car.

At the time, the police officer was travelling from Nanyuki and was not in Nairobi.

According to his statement, Imoli told him he needed the vehicle to collect spare parts for his own car from Kirinyaga Road in the city centre and promised to return it later that afternoon.

Haikal agreed to the request and directed him to collect the car keys from his residence in Pangani, where the vehicle was parked.

Initially, he instructed his cousin, identified as Abdi, to hand over the keys, but the cousin was leaving for Maralal at the time.

The officer then asked him to leave the keys with the estate guard so that Imoli could pick them up.

Later that afternoon, after travelling back to Nairobi from Meru where he had gone to check on another vehicle at a garage, Haikal arrived at his Pangani residence at about 2pm.

However, he noticed that the car had not been returned to the parking as earlier agreed.

He contacted Imoli to inquire about the delay.

“William told me he was almost through and that he was returning it back in a few minutes. Since I was tired, I went to bed to rest,” he testified. The car was not returned that evening.

The following morning, May 1, Haikal again contacted Imoli because he needed the vehicle. Imoli informed him that the car had been left at a car wash in Ofafa Jericho.

When the officer arrived at the location, he did not initially see the vehicle at the car wash and called Imoli again for clarification.

He was then told the car had been parked outside and that a motorcycle rider had been sent to deliver the keys.

“After about five minutes, a boda boda rider brought me the keys and I drove the car back to my residence at Pangani,” he stated.

According to Haikal, all the communication between him and Imoli was conducted through the suspect’s Airtel phone number.

Haikal said he resumed his normal duties over the next two days.

On May 2, he reported to his workplace at Teleposta Towers before returning home later in the afternoon.

The following day, May 3, he left his house at about 10am and drove the car to a garage in Pangani for repairs.

Later that evening at around 5pm, he headed to a club in the Hurlingham area known as Malo Malo.

While there at around midnight, he received a call from a friend in Kasarani whose child had fallen ill and needed to be taken to the hospital.

He drove to Kasarani, picked up the friend and the child and took them to Radiant Hospital before dropping them back home.

Upon returning to his residence in Pangani later that night, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested him and seized the vehicle.

He was escorted to the DCI headquarters and later detained at Muthaiga Police Station.

The Toyota Mark II has since been identified by investigators as the same vehicle captured on multiple CCTV cameras near Parliament and later trailing the MP’s vehicle before the shooting.

The footage has become a key part of the prosecution’s effort to reconstruct the events leading up to the killing.

Haikal has since appeared in court as a state witness, explaining how the vehicle ended up in the hands of one of the suspects on the day of the murder.In his statement, he insisted he had no role in the killing.

He also told investigators that it was not the first time Imoli had asked to use the vehicle since selling it to him.

On a previous occasion, he said, he had allowed the suspect to use the car during the burial of his brother who died during demonstrations in 2024.

The suspects, including William Imoli Shigali, Edwin Odour Odhiambo, Ebel Ochieng, Isaac Kuria and Allan Ogola are currently facing charges in connection with the killing as the trial continues.