Police probe implicates MP Were’s driver and bodyguard in murder plot

Police are holding five more suspects in connection with the murder of Kasipul Member of Parliament Charles Ong'ondo Were, including his longtime driver, bodyguard, and a neighbor from his rural home, as investigations point to a planned killing involving multiple players.

Authorities now describe the murder as "a well-orchestrated crime" planned over several meetings in Nairobi and Homa Bay long before the fatal shooting, which took place near the City Mortuary roundabout along Valley Road in Nairobi on April 30.

Court documents filed on Thursday show detectives are depending on surveillance footage from the Integrated Command, Control and Communication Center (IC3) and other private security cameras placed along roads leading to the crime scene to identify the gunman.

Detectives are also using phone signal tracking, data from phones belonging to persons of interest, and statements from witnesses, alongside interrogations of the suspects already in custody, to determine the full extent of the alleged conspiracy.

"This crime was planned way before its execution, with meetings within and outside Nairobi. Therefore, more investigations will be conducted in Nairobi and Homabay and other several counties, a process that will require more time," said Inspector of Police Oliver Nabonwe, the lead investigator in the case.

Among those arrested are the late MP’s bodyguard, Allan Ogola Omondi, and driver Walter Owino Awino.

Also in custody is Ebel Ochieng, known by the alias Dave Calo, who lives near the late MP in Kasipul, Homa Bay County.

"Omondi and Awino were the MP's bodyguard and driver before this unfortunate shooting. Preliminary investigations have revealed that they were in communication with some of the planners and executors of this crime before and after this fatal incident,” said the investigating officer.

Two others, Edwin Oduor Odhiambo and Dennis Sewe Manyasi, were arrested in Umoja Two estate in Nairobi and Nakuru, respectively.

Police say the two trailed the MP from Parliament on the evening of the murder.

Also taken into custody is businessman Philip Nahashon Aroko, who police say is a person of interest.

This brings the number of suspects to 10.

According to Inspector Nabonwe, "Preliminary analysis of the evidence at hand has shown that there is a high likelihood that the respondents, jointly with others still at large, were involved in the planning and execution of the murder."

Searches conducted at Odhiambo’s residence in Mihang’o, Nairobi, yielded two pistols, two magazines, nine bullets, five Airtel SIM cards, and four mobile phones.

Detectives plan to carry out ballistic tests on the firearms and compare the bullets recovered during the MP’s autopsy to confirm if they match.

Meanwhile, investigators believe Ochieng, the MP’s neighbor, had threatened the legislator days before the murder.

He has also been named by other suspects already in custody as someone involved in planning the killing.

"Similarly, he has been adversely mentioned by some suspects who are already in custody as the person behind the planning and execution of the crime," said the investigator.

Police are asking the court to allow them to seize and examine the suspects’ mobile phones and SIM cards to access their call data and build the case further.

"All the mobile phones and SIM cards recovered from the suspects need to be subjected to forensic exploitation and analysis to obtain call data records to assist in the investigation," said Nabonwe.

He added: "Through mobile phone triangulation and interrogation of witnesses, people of interest, and the suspects' accomplices who are already in lawful custody, it has been revealed that all five suspects were in constant communication immediately before, during, and after the commission of the crime. They were near the scenes of crime where Were's car passed through, hence the need to conduct more investigations."

Four other suspects — William Imoli Shighali, Juma Ali Haikal, Douglas Muchiri Wambugu, and David Mihigo Kagame — were arrested last week and have already been remanded for 30 days.

Haikal is an Administration Police officer, according to police.

Investigators say some of the witnesses who recorded statements gave descriptions that matched the appearance of some of the suspects now in custody.

Inspector Nabonwe has asked the court to allow the suspects to be held in separate police stations — Lang’ata, Gigiri, Pangani, Kiambu, and Embakasi — to help with the ongoing investigations.

Meanwhile, businessman Philip Nahashon Aroko is seeking to be released on bond, claiming police have no grounds to continue holding him.

"Mr Aroko denies any knowledge of or involvement in the said offence and maintains that he has at all material times been willing and available to assist the investigative authorities in any lawful manner including the provision of statements, attendance for interviews or any other reasonable inquiry," said his lawyer Dansatn Omari in court documents.

The lawyer described Aroko as a law-abiding citizen with a longstanding clean record.

Principal Magistrate Irene Gichohi is expected to make a ruling on the detention application on Friday at the JKIA law courts.