ODM party leader Raila Odinga has mourned Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were, who was shot dead in Nairobi on Wednesday evening, describing him as a “gallant son of the soil.”
In a heartfelt message shared on social media, Odinga condemned the killing, saying the legislator was “mercilessly and in cold blood, gunned down by an assassin.”
“We have lost a gallant son of the soil! Hon Charles Ong'ondo Were is no more; mercilessly and in cold blood, gunned down by an assassin in Nairobi this evening. Rest in Peace Hon Sir Charles Ong'ondo Were,” he said.
The ODM leader ended his message with the Luo phrase, “Dhi gi kwe Ogai ma Milamb”, loosely translated to “Go in peace, son of the land of Milambo.”
The MP was shot dead on Wednesday evening, April 30, along Ngong Road near the City Mortuary roundabout by a gunman.
The National Police Service said the fatal shooting of Ong’ondo Were appears to have been both “targeted and predetermined,” raising alarm over the motive behind the brazen attack on a sitting legislator.
In a statement released by police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga, he said reports confirmed by the Nairobi Regional Police Commander were that, at around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a white Toyota Crown vehicle came to a stop at a red traffic light on Ngong Road, near the City Mortuary roundabout.
Police said according to eyewitnesses, a motorcycle carrying a rider and a pillion passenger stopped alongside the car.
“The pillion passenger approached the vehicle and fired shots at the passenger side before jumping back onto the motorcycle and speeding away,” police said.
The driver of the car and a male passenger, both unhurt, managed to rush the injured MP to Nairobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
“The nature of this crime appears to be both targeted and predetermined,” the police spokesman added.
Muchiri said senior police commanders and detectives visited the scene and are piecing together the circumstances surrounding the death.
