A protected prosecution witness on Tuesday told the High Court in Kibera that he unknowingly helped transport the man accused of fatally shooting former Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were and was later paid KSh50,000 for the assignment.
The witness, identified only as KAV under the Witness Protection Programme, testified before Justice Diana Kavedza during the ongoing murder trial. Led in evidence by the prosecution team headed by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Vincent Monda, the witness said he worked as a motorcycle rider and was contacted on the morning of April 30, 2025, for what he believed was an ordinary transport job. He told the court that he was first directed to Huruma before being instructed to proceed to Jacaranda Estate, where he picked up a man he already knew. The passenger allegedly handed him an Airtel SIM card to be used for communication during the assignment and promised him KSh50,000 upon completion.
According to the witness, the passenger later led him to Buruburu, where they met another man driving a white Toyota Crown. The two vehicles then travelled together, making a stop at a petrol station along Jogoo Road, where the driver of the Toyota Crown paid for fuel for the motorcycle. The witness said the group later entered Nairobi’s CBD and spent several hours monitoring movements before the passenger instructed him to begin following a white vehicle.
He testified that they tailed the vehicle through the city centre, Kenyatta Avenue, Valley Road and Hurlingham before reaching the Daystar University roundabout. The passenger then asked him to stop because traffic had built up ahead. Moments later, the witness told the court, he heard several gunshots. The passenger ran back, climbed onto the motorcycle and ordered him to leave the area immediately. The two later returned to Buruburu, where they went their separate ways.
The witness said it was only after he arrived home that he learned what had happened. He received a call from the person who had connected him to the assignment and was told to watch the news. Television reports showed that MP Charles Ong’ondo Were had been shot dead, and the witness realized the vehicle shown in the reports resembled the one he had been instructed to follow.
The following day, he met the same individual and received the promised KSh50,000. He also told the court that the Airtel SIM card used during the operation was destroyed and replaced with another one.
The witness maintained that he had no knowledge that the assignment was linked to a planned killing.
“I believed I had only been hired to provide transport. I did not know there was a plan to kill anyone,” he told the court.
The testimony is expected to form part of the prosecution’s effort to place the accused persons together in the hours leading up to the fatal shooting of the Kasipul legislator.
The hearing continues on July 16 before Justice Diana Kavedza.
