Five men accused of plotting the assassination of Kasipul lawmaker Charles Ong’ondo Were will be marched into court today, capping a month-long probe that stretched from Nairobi’s back streets to Homa Bay’s political turf wars.
Investigators say the hit was anything but random. Meetings in and outside the capital laid out the plan, and on April 30, at about 7:40 p.m., gunmen struck Were’s car at the City Mortuary roundabout along Valley Road. He died on the spot.
Three suspects; William Imoli (Imo), Edwin Oduor Odhiambo (Machuani), and Ebel Ochieng (Dave Calo), a director at the Lake Basin Development Authority, will appear before the Kibera High Court.
Their alleged accomplices, police constable Allan Omondi Ogola, who served as Were’s bodyguard, and Isaac Kuria (Kush), labelled the hired gunman, will face judges at the Milimani High Court.
Police believe money changed hands before bullets flew. One suspect allegedly pocketed a down payment of Sh850,000; officers later found part of that sum stashed at his home in U.S. dollars.
The case has produced almost as many twists as suspects. Twelve people were rounded up. Five walked free when detectives failed to tie them to the crime, and two – Were’s driver Walter Awino Owino and associate Dennis Sewe Manyasi, have now flipped to become state witnesses.
Relatives wept and prayed with the two outside the JKIA magistrate’s court moments after their release.
For Kasipul voters, the drama isn’t just courtroom intrigue; it’s a brutal reminder of the stakes in local succession politics. With the DPP satisfied there’s enough to proceed, Nairobi will watch to see whether today’s arraignments unravel the full story, or spark another round of political finger-pointing.
