To many Meru residents, Kasipul MP Charles Were, who was gunned down on Wednesday night in Nairobi, was not only an acquaintance but also an employer, landlord and in-law.
However, to others, he was a politician whose private and political life was shrouded in controversy and mystery.
Mr Were made his name and wealth in Meru town where he settled in 1998, starting off as an employee at Mosal Dry Cleaners.
Mr Mohamed Salim, who was the proprietor of Mosal Drycleaners, employed Mr Were, and saw him rise to the position of manager until about 2000 when he left.
Having created networks and learned the ropes of the business, Mr Were would later register his own company, Victoria Cleaning Services, which has controlled office cleaning business in Meru town for years.
Mr Jackson Kithinji, a former employee at Standard Bank and a friend to the late MP, says Mr Were’s breakthrough was when banks started outsourcing cleaning services.
“I knew Mr Were while working at Standard Bank in Meru where he was a frequent visitor to supervise his staff. He had secured office cleaning contracts with most banks in Meru town. This is how he made his money. I knew him as a very calm man,” Mr Kithinji says.
Mr Nelson Ogweno, the chairman of Meru Western Alliance which comprises members of Luo, Luyha and Gusii communities in Meru town, says he has been friends with Mr Were since 1998.
“It is very sad that Mr Were was shot and killed in cold blood. When he established his business, I worked with him and we travelled across the country opening other branches. He married a Meru woman even before he left Mosal Drycleaners,” Mr Ogweno says.
As his business empire expanded, Mr Were ventured into real estate putting up flats in various estates within Meru town.
Mr Nkunja Nkuraru, a former ODM youth wing leader, says Mr Were owns apartments at Tuntu, Kaaga and Gitimbine in Meru town.
Dalmas Otieno, the eldest brother of the late Charles Ong’ondo Were, speaks to the media at Kachien Village in Kasipul, the home of the slain Member of Parliament, on May 1, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Mr Ogweno says as Mr Were thrived in business, he developed interest in politics and he introduced the deceased to ODM leader Raila Odinga.
Meru County ODM chairman Jack Munoru said Mr Were was a key cog in the opposition party within the region where he financed their activities.
“He would sponsor ODM meetings and rallies and coordinate Raila Odinga’s campaign. This is how he earned the trust and support of the party back home. He was a very jolly and generous man. I did not know him outside the political circles,” Mr Munoru says.
Mr Kithinji said he was actively involved in Mr Were’s campaign secretariat when he first joined elective politics in 2013.
“We supported his campaign and he won in the ODM primaries in 2013. However, when he went for the nomination certificate, he was short-changed. He vied as an independent candidate and came second. In 2017, he paid some hefty amount and managed to win the support of the ODM party supremos. He was elected MP on an ODM ticket,” Mr Kithinji recounts.
Meru County boda boda Riders Sacco chairman John Barasa who knew the MP in the early 2000 while working as a private guard in banks, says the deceased was a good and generous man.
“It is very sad that my friend Mr Were has left us. Whenever he came to Meru, he would look for me. I met him last month when he was in Meru. He has contributed immensely to the economy of Meru by creating jobs. He was a very kind landlord who did not harass his tenants,” Mr Barasa said.
However, other residents who spoke to the Nation remember a no-nonsense man who was feared by those who rubbed him the wrong way.
On one occasion before he joined politics, he was accused of threatening a police boss and journalists over an incident where a woman accused him of kidnapping her.
A retired journalist in Meru, who reported on the incident, said the woman had recounted how she was locked up in Mr Were’s house alongside another woman but she managed to escape.
A mourner is overcome with grief at the home of slain Kasipul MP harles Ong'ondo Were in Kachien Village on May 1, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
“When the story was published, I had to go into hiding because he threatened me. The woman claimed that she was promised a job but ended up in a kidnaping situation,” the former journalist says.
Even Mr Were’s exit from Mosal Dry Cleaners was not without controversy after the business premises burnt down in an incident that was, however, ruled as an accident.
The late legislator has also been linked to the disappearance of Daughty Apondi, who vanished without a trace in November 2010.
Her family said the MP promised her a job in a hotel in Meru, one she never lived to take. His brother Bob Adongo said he never saw her sister.
“We suspect foul play. We reported the case to the police,” he said.
Apondi's sister, Nancy Adhiambo, said her search for answers has been relentless, despite facing repeated threats from the late legislator himself.
“He knew where my sister went. He knew how she disappeared,” Adhiambo said.
But Mr Barasa and Mr Ogweno say the murdered MP could be a victim of political witch-hunt and mudslinging.
“Mr Were was a man who hated lies and rumour mongers. He was a very tough man when dealing with his detractors. However, he delivered as an MP. He is also a victim of a culture of violence in Homa Bay County. The violent images being shared on social media are a reflection of what happens there,” Mr Ogweno said.
Mr Barasa says the slain MP was a humble man while in Meru and that he did not believe the claims that he was involved in violence were true.
