MP killed by gunmen in Kenyan capital

The Kenyan MP Charles Ong’ondo Were has been shot dead whilst in his car in the capital Nairobi after being trailed by gunmen travelling on a motorbike.

The BBC reported the story on April 30th and reported that Were was travelling along with his driver and bodyguard who were both unhurt and immediately rushed the MP to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Were had complained of fears to his safety for some time and the attack is believed to have been premeditated with police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga releasing a statement saying that: “The nature of this crime appears to be both targeted and predetermined”.

The attack on the MP occurred along a busy stretch of the Ngong Road near a roundabout in the Kenyan capital that is regularly manned by traffic police officers as well as equipped secured with security cameras.

Senior police officers and investigators visited the scene and have begun a full scale investigation with immediate effect.

Rails Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement to which Were belonged, condemned the killing, saying that he was killed “mercilessly and in cold blood, gunned down by an assassin”, going on to add that “we have lost a gallant son of the soil!”.

Odinga lost 2022’s general election to the current president William Ruto however he contested the results due to alleged irregularities, another sign of the current fragility of democracy in Africa.

However the two men were able to come to an arrangement and as the BBC reported, in December 2024 Ruto reached out to Odinga in order so sure up his grip on power by accommodating opposition MPs.

President Ruto has ordered an immediate and thorough investigation into the attack, saying that: “Those responsible must be held to account.”

The motivation for the suspected assassination attempt is as yet unclear due to the anonymity of the perpetrators.

BBC, Maghrebi