A protected witness has told the Kibera High Court he was paid Ksh50,000 to trail former Kasipul MP Charles Ong'ondo Were's vehicle on the day he was shot dead in April 2025.
Fresh details have emerged in the murder trial of former Kasipul MP Charles Ong'ondo Were after a protected prosecution witness told the court he was paid Ksh50,000 to trail the lawmaker's vehicle on the day he was shot dead.
Testifying under the pseudonym KAV as part of the Witness Protection Programme on Tuesday, July 14, the witness gave a detailed account of the events leading up to the April 30, 2025, shooting, saying he unknowingly took part in surveilling the former MP before his killing.
According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the witness, a motorcycle rider, testified before Justice Diana Kavedza at the High Court in Kibera, in proceedings led by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Vincent Monda.
KAV told the court he received a phone call on the morning of the incident from a known contact offering what was described as a motorcycle transport assignment. He was initially instructed to travel to Huruma before another caller changed the meeting point to Jacaranda Estate.
Upon arrival, the caller allegedly offered him Ksh50,000 for the assignment and handed him an Airtel SIM card to be used for communication during the operation. The witness was not informed about the nature of the assignment and only learned what it involved after Ong'ondo Were had already been shot.
According to the testimony, a passenger boarded the motorcycle and directed KAV to a sports facility in Buruburu. The passenger briefly left before returning in a white vehicle occupied by another person, after which the witness was instructed to follow that vehicle.
The pair stopped at a filling station along Jogoo Road to refuel the motorcycle before proceeding to Nairobi's CBD, where they waited for several hours. KAV testified that he was later instructed to abandon the initial vehicle and instead trail another white vehicle through the city.
The witness told the court that the passenger eventually alighted from the motorcycle and walked away, only to return moments later after gunshots rang out. By then, the former Kasipul MP had already been shot dead. KAV said he was then instructed to ride to another location, where the two parted ways.
Later that evening, KAV received a call from the person who had arranged the assignment, asking where the job had been carried out. After explaining the location, the caller instructed the witness to switch on the television, where news reports showed that Ong'ondo Were had been shot dead. KAV testified that he recognised the vehicle shown in the news reports as the one he had been instructed to follow.
The following day, the witness met the same individual and received the agreed payment of Ksh50,000. The SIM card used during the assignment was then destroyed and replaced with another for future communication, the court heard.
Ong'ondo Were was shot dead by gunmen on the evening of April 30, 2025, after his vehicle was intercepted near the City Mortuary roundabout along Valley Road. Investigations pointed to a coordinated plot, with five suspects now facing consolidated murder charges: Allan Omondi Ogolla (Were's bodyguard), Isaac Kuria alias Kush (the alleged gunman), William Imoli Shighali alias Imo or Omar Shakur (accused of surveillance), Edwin Oduor Odhiambo alias Machuani, and a fifth suspect linked to the plot.
The hearing resumes on Thursday, July 16, as the prosecution continues calling witnesses in the case.