NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 14 – A protected prosecution witness in the murder trial of former Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were has told the High Court that he was paid Sh50,000 to trail the lawmaker’s vehicle on the day he was killed.
Testifying under the pseudonym KAV and under the Witness Protection Programme, the witness told the court that he was recruited for what he believed was a routine transport assignment before later discovering that the vehicle he had been following belonged to the slain legislator.
The witness, a motorcycle rider, said he was initially directed to Huruma before receiving fresh instructions to proceed to Jacaranda, where he met an unknown individual who informed him that the assignment would earn him Sh50,000.
According to the testimony, the witness was handed an Airtel SIM card to facilitate communication during the operation but was not informed of the nature of the assignment.
KAV told Justice Diana Kavedza that the individual later directed him to follow a white motor vehicle from a sports facility in Buruburu before the team moved through Jogoo Road and into Nairobi’s central business district.
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After spending the better part of the day in the city centre, the witness said his passenger instructed him to trail another white vehicle during the evening hours.
The passenger later alighted from the motorcycle at a designated location and walked away before the witness heard gunshots moments later.
According to the testimony, the individual returned shortly afterwards, boarded the motorcycle and instructed the witness to ride to another location where they eventually parted ways.
The witness further told the court that he later received a call from the individual who had connected him to the assignment and was asked to check television news reports, where he recognised the vehicle he had followed as belonging to Ong’ondo Were.
KAV said he met the same individual the following day and received the agreed payment for his transport services. The individual allegedly destroyed the Airtel SIM card used during the operation and issued him with another SIM card for future communication.
The Director of Public Prosecutions presented the witness through prosecutors led by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Vincent Monda before Justice Diana Kavedza at the High Court in Kibera.
Ong’ondo Were was shot dead by gunmen in Nairobi on the evening of April 30, 2025.
The hearing resumes on July 16, 2026.
