A politician-cum-businessman, Philip Nahashon Aroko, who police allege to be the key suspect in the murder of Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were, will remain in police custody for seven days for interrogation over the killing of the legislator in Nairobi on April 30, 2025.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Court Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi declined a plea by police to detain Aroko for 30 days and only allowed detectives to keep him for seven days. However, Ms Gichobi allowed police to detain three suspects who were arrested last week for 20 days.
Besides Aroko, others who have been arrested over the heinous killing of the MP are William Imoli Shighali, Juma Ali Haikal, Douglas Muchiri Wambugu, and David Mihigo Kagame. Haikal is an Administration Police officer, according to the investigators.
Kenyan lawmaker Charles Were speaks in Nairobi, Kenya in this handout image released March 12, 2025.
Photo credit: Parliament of Kenya/Handout via Reuters
Pressing for Aroko to be detained, the prosecuting counsel told the court that investigators have gathered leads identifying him as a central suspect in the killing.
This, they said, was “due to alleged threats he made to the deceased MP but also for what investigators believe was his role as a key financier of the operation that led to the assassination.”
Aroko was arraigned at the JKIA Court at 3pm after the High Court issued an order compelling the Inspector General of Police to produce him dead or alive.
The High Court allowed the application by lawyer Danstan Omari seeking orders to produce in court the missing politician-cum-businessman.
The dramatic presentation of the suspect stemmed from pressure mounted by his lawyers Mr Omari, Cliff Ombeta, and Samson Nyaberi, who demanded that Aroko be produced in court after being held incommunicado since his arrest four days ago.
In a miscellaneous application, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga told the court through a prosecuting counsel that preliminary investigations have established a web of connections between Aroko and the recent killing of the MP, who was buried on Friday at his rural home.
Phone and money trails, suspect meetings
“The respondent has been directly linked through communication records and financial trails to multiple persons of interest,” the prosecuting counsel told the court.
“Evidence points to organised meetings held in Homa Bay, Nairobi, and Nakuru — all of which formed part of the planning stages that preceded the MP's death.”
Ms Gichobi heard that investigators are currently analysing financial transactions believed to have originated from Aroko, aimed at facilitating the planning and execution of the crime. Moreover, police are yet to visit the scenes of several critical meetings for the purpose of reconstructing and fully documenting those places.
Detectives comb crime scene, car after fatal shooting of Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were
The court also heard that the slain MP had filed reports of threats against his life, allegedly from Aroko, at the DCI regional headquarters in Nairobi.
“These investigations were still active at the time of the MP’s murder but have since been interrupted due to the case turning fatal,” the court was told.
Ms Gichobi was urged to detain the suspects as investigators worried over possible attempts to intimidate or silence witnesses.
“Some of the individuals who can provide key testimony are now living in fear and have not yet come forward,” the prosecuting counsel added.
The court was urged to allow detectives more time to complete their investigations, trace the financial networks involved, and secure the safety of potential witnesses.
Aroko, who dropped his lawyers, opposed the 30 days sought for his incarceration.
He said that although he has no objection to the ongoing investigations, he asked the magistrate to consider his health status as he is allegedly under medication.
“Thirty days is crazy. I have a family, and I am on medication, which I have to access, and visit my doctors for check-ups and advice."
He denied that he would interfere with witnesses and added, “There is a government, and I do not have the machinery to interfere with witnesses.”
The investigation team describes the incident as “a well-orchestrated crime” planned by multiple people through several meetings in Nairobi, Nakuru, and Homa Bay, well before the day of the fatal shooting.
Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were had publicly warned of threats to his life.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Documents filed in court reveal that police are banking on CCTV footage at the Integrated Command, Control, and Communication Center (IC3) and other privately installed cameras along the path leading to the murder scene to unmask the actual killer.
They are also relying on mobile phone triangulation, analysis of phones belonging to persons of interest, interrogation of undisclosed witnesses, and the questioning of the nine suspects in custody to determine if there was a conspiracy to kill the MP.
“This crime was planned well before its execution, with meetings within and outside Nairobi. Therefore, more investigations will be conducted in Nairobi, Nakuru, Homa Bay, and other counties, a process that will require more time,” said the case investigator, Inspector of Police Oliver Nabonwe.
The five suspects include the MP’s bodyguard and driver, Allan Ogola Omondi and Walter Owino Awino, respectively, and his neighbour in Kasipul, Homa Bay County, Ebel Ochieng alias Dave Calo.
“Omondi and Awino were the MP’s bodyguards and driver before this unfortunate shooting. Preliminary investigations have revealed that they were in communication with some of the planners and executors of this crime before and after the fatal incident,” said the officer.
Other suspects are Edwin Oduor Odhiambo and Dennis Sewe Manyasi. They were all arrested on Wednesday in Nairobi’s Umoja II estate and Nakuru.
Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were killed by a gunman on Ngong Road
Calo asked the magistrate to recuse herself from the case, claiming bias.
Those arrested over the killing of the MP are 10 in total. The matter will be mentioned on May 13, 2025, for the magistrate to rule on whether she will recuse herself or not.
