A Nairobi court on Monday
allowed the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to detain the
primary suspect in the assassination of Kasipul MP Charles Ong’onda Were for 30
days pending investigations.
Were was gunned down at the
City Mortuary roundabout along Valley Road on April 30, 2025.
According to an application
filed by investigating Officer Reuben Mwaniki, Isaac Kuria, also known as
"Kush", is believed to have been contracted to assassinate the MP.
The deceased was reportedly
trailed from Parliament by both a car and a motorcycle and fatally shot while
driving.
CCTV footage captured images
resembling individuals already under investigation in other related criminal
cases.
Witnesses have also given
physical descriptions that match the suspect who is now in custody.
Police said mobile phone
triangulation places the suspect near the crime scene before, during, and after
the killing, and that he was in constant communication with accomplices.
Police further allege the
suspect was contracted to assassinate Were and was arrested while attempting to
flee the country through the Kenya-Tanzania border at Isebania, Migori County.
“That the respondent was
contracted to assassinate the deceased, and immediately
after committing the crime, he escaped to Migori and was arrested on his way to
Tanzania. Therefore, he is a flight risk.”
“That it has since been
established that, the assailant, believed to be the Respondent herein, was
dropped by a motor vehicle near the parliament before being picked by a
motorcycle with a view of trailing and eliminating the deceased person herein.
The said vehicle and its occupants, and the motorcycle
with its rider and pillion passenger were captured by the CCTV cameras installed within the city and therefore
there is a need to conduct further
review with a view to identifying the assailants and the planners,” the police
said.
According to police,
preliminary evidence has since established that Kuria was hired by some of the
suspects already in custody and others still at large to eliminate the deceased
person.
He was reportedly found at a
hotel in the company of his brother and step-sister, allegedly awaiting illegal
passage into Tanzania.
"Preliminary
analysis of evidence, the respondent was traced and arrested while in the
company of his brother Gideon Chege Bake at a hotel in Isebania at the border
of Kenya and Tanzania in Migori County, while waiting to be taken to Tanzania
by his step sister. He was then transferred to Nairobi and booked at Kasarani
Police Station on May 9 at 1810 Hours," said Mwaniki.
The DCI allege that
preliminary interrogation has revealed “crucial information,” including names
of persons of interest, some already in custody and others still at large. The suspect has also been linked to the firearm
used in the murder, which was recovered from his alleged accomplices.
Police are now seeking to
conduct further interrogations, analyze extensive CCTV footage, hold
identification parades, and visit multiple crime scenes in Nairobi and Homa Bay
Counties.
They also plan to retrieve and
examine data from mobile phones recovered during related arrests and await
cybercrime forensic reports.
"The
manner in which the deceased was killed has left his community in anguish,"
the affidavit reads.
The suspect will be detained
at Kasarani police station.
His
arrest follows a dramatic manhunt launched by the Directorate of Criminal
Investigations (DCI) in the aftermath of the MP's fatal shooting on Valley Road
in Nairobi.
According to investigators,
Kuria fled the scene after the shooting and moved through several counties in a
calculated effort to evade capture.
He first travelled to Mihango,
where he allegedly discarded the murder weapon that has later recovered by
authorities, before proceeding to Narok and eventually to Isebania.
Kuria is now the eleventh
suspect to be taken into custody in connection with the killing.
Others already detained
include Were’s bodyguard Allan Omondi, his driver Walter Owino, and William
Imoli, who is alleged to have orchestrated and financed the operation.
Additional suspects include
prominent businessman Phillip Aroko, Lake Basin Development Authority director
Ebel Ochieng, and two others identified as Edwin Oduor and Dennis Manyasi.
Detectives say Kuria was in
communication with individuals in Tanzania, with whom he was reportedly
coordinating his escape.
The DCI has confirmed that
investigations are ongoing, with a focus on financial trails and political
affiliations that may shed light on the motive behind the assassination.
