Another suspect in MP Were murder detained for 30 days

A Nairobi court on Monday allowed the Director of Criminal Investigations 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 30 April 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 9May at 6:00 a.m” 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 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.