A Kenyan member of parliament has been shot dead in the streets of the capital Nairobi by gunmen on a motorcycle in a suspected assassination.
Police said the attackers had been trailing Charles Ong’ondo Were’s vehicle before one of them got off the motorbike and shot him at close range.
“The nature of this crime appears to be both targeted and predetermined,” police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga said in a statement.
The opposition MP had two months ago complained about threats to his life, local media reported.
After the shooting on late Wednesday, his driver and bodyguard, both unhurt, managed to rush the injured MP to Nairobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The attack happened along Ngong Road near a busy roundabout often manned by traffic police officers and well secured with security cameras.
Shortly after the shooting, senior police commanders and detectives visited the scene and investigations are underway, police said.
President William Ruto has ordered police to conduct a thorough investigation into the attack, adding that: “Those responsible must be held to account.”
Fellow legislators who visited the scene expressed shock and outrage at the killing and called for swift investigations and justice.
Parliament Speaker Moses Wetang’ula described the MP as a “fearless and distinguished” legislator, calling his shooting “devastating”.
Were represented the Kasipul constituency in western Kenya as a member of the Orange Democratic Movement, led by veteran politician Raila Odinga.
In his statement, Odinga condemned the killing, saying the legislator was “mercilessly and in cold blood, gunned down by an assassin”.
“We have lost a gallant son of the soil!” Odinga added.
Odinga lost to President Ruto in the 2022 election and rejected the results due to alleged irregularities.
The former prime minister has since struck a political deal with Ruto which saw some opposition members join cabinet in what is referred as the “broad-based government”. (Reuters)
