Police have apprehended the motorbike rider accused of aiding the assassin who killed Kasipul Member of Parliament Charles Were.
The legislator was gunned down on the evening of April 30 during rush hour near the City Mortuary roundabout on Ngong Road. According to police reports, the killer jumped off a motorbike during a red light, fired shots at close range, and escaped on the same bike with the rider.
On Wednesday, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) confirmed the arrest of a suspect identified as Amos Barasa Kasili. He was taken into custody in Nairobi’s Kibera area following forensic leads that placed him at the scene of the fatal shooting.
“Barasa served as the rider of the motorcycle with registration number KMFZ 413W, a Bajaj Boxer, which the assailants used to trail the MP’s vehicle and later as a getaway bike after the attack,” the DCI said in a statement.
Authorities say Kasili is “a habitual criminal who masquerades as a boda boda operator” and was found with the very motorbike believed to have been used in the assassination.
The suspect is reported to have confessed to his role in the attack, with investigators quoting him as saying “he had been engaged by the main actors and received a payment of Ksh.50,000 as part of his compensation.”
The DCI further noted that the seized motorcycle matched CCTV footage showing a similar bike tailing MP Were’s vehicle near Parliament shortly before the attack.
Police have maintained that the killing of Charles Were was “targeted and premeditated,” and investigations continue to focus on multiple suspects, including a police officer and several of the MP’s close associates.
Detectives suspect that the assassination may have been carried out by a sophisticated criminal syndicate with substantial financial backing.
