CCTV Exposes Suspect In Final Minutes Before Murder Of MP Charles Were

A suspect linked to the murder of Kasipul Member of Parliament (MP), the late Charles Were, has been identified by investigators working the case, as CCTV footage captured him tailing the MP shortly before he was shot dead on Valley Road in Nairobi.

Detectives pieced together his final hours using surveillance footage and statements from his driver and bodyguard. On Thursday, May 1, the investigation expanded to Parliament, where Were had spent most of the day before heading out just before 7 p.m. with his driver and bodyguard. 

The car travelled via City Hall Way, then turned onto Wabera Street, where it briefly stopped. The bodyguard entered a mobile money shop to deposit Ksh 20,000 into the MP's phone.

During that stop, CCTV cameras captured a lone gunman with a hood and a bag monitoring the vehicle. Minutes later, at 7:19 p.m., the MP’s car left the area, taking a different route via Ralph Bunche Road to avoid traffic before joining Valley Road.

Unbeknownst to them, the same suspect from Wabera Street was trailing them on a sports bike. When traffic forced the car to stop at 7:40 p.m., the gunman jumped off the bike, circled the vehicle, and fired four rounds through the window, striking the MP in the chest and hand. The hooded man then sprinted back to the bike, and the pair sped off towards the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).

The MP’s bodyguard, caught off guard in the back seat, ducked during the shooting. He then tried to chase the attackers, but they had already vanished.

He rushed back to help the bleeding lawmaker, who was pleading for help. They sped to Nairobi Hospital, but Were was declared dead on arrival. Both the driver and bodyguard escaped without injury.

The hit, executed in under a minute during peak traffic, left detectives recovering three shell casings at the scene for ballistic tests. Reports indicate the MP was hit at least four times at point-blank range by the gunman, who fled the scene via the waiting sports bike.

At the crime scene, three bullet holes were found on the passenger side, and blood was splattered across the console — clear signs of a targeted hit that police believe was carried out by a professional assassin.

By Thursday morning, homicide teams led by Director Martin Nyuguto had reconstructed the scene and collected CCTV footage from businesses along Wabera Street. They also interrogated three individuals — the MP's driver, bodyguard, and the mobile money attendant.

Investigators have now broadened the probe to the constituency of Kasipul itself, probing possible political motives behind the killing.

On Thursday, multiple videos surfaced of the late Were decrying that his life was in danger and naming those he claimed wanted him dead. In one instance, the MP called on security officers in the area to provide him with protection, stating that he had received several warnings that he would be shot dead.