Reign of terror: Secret double life of murdered Kasipul MP Ong'ondo Were

To his colleagues in Parliament, Charles Ong’odo Were was a good man who interacted well with everyone. They nicknamed him Sir Charles.

But to some people, mostly those whose paths crossed with those of the late MP on the wrong side,  he was a ruthless man they wished they had never encountered on this earth.

This category of Were’s acquaintances says the man who died serving his second term at the August House ruined their lives

Such were tales that resurfaced after the Member of Parliament was shot dead around City Mortuary in Nairobi on May 2, 2025.

As he is laid today (Friday), many secrets, such as what he did to a woman from his constituency he once dispatched to Meru, may follow him to his grave.

A desperate family back in the village, Sir Charles comes from claims the late MP lured their kin with a job offer more than a decade ago. And she has never been traced.

Doughty Apondi disappeared somewhere between Nairobi and Meru. It still remains a puzzle that her family and the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) are still trying to resolve. 

In a candid interview, Doughty’s sister, Nancy Adhiamb, opened up about the ordeal in which she left their Oyugis home in 2010 for Meru. Doughty was hoping to secure a dream job she was offered by Were, a prominent businessman in the Mt Kenya town then.

“Before she got lost, she had been jobless and decided to come back home. Around that time, Were was on a campaign trail (for the parliamentary seat he died holding). When she was told that my sister was jobless, he said he had some business and was looking for someone to manage,” Adhiambo recalls.

How Late MP Ong'ondo Were Lured my Sister with a job Promise ,Disappeared and killed her Over 9 Years Ago and went Scot Free!!Sad Narration from Adhiambo! pic.twitter.com/ZeHsu2jyY9

— Mutembei TV (@MutembeiTV) May 3, 2025

Adhiambo claims that, apart from the job offer, Were promised that he would offer Doughty his house in Meru, where she would be staying.

In the house, the budding politician said, there was a houseboy who would welcome Doughty. She was reluctantly convinced to relocate.

Adhiambo claims that it was Were who sent Doughty bus fare, which she used to travel to Nairobi, then proceed to Meru.

“She called back and said she arrived safely. But after staying for about two weeks, she kept lamenting to our mum, saying that Were used to have late-night weird meetings, mostly past midnight,” narrated Adhiambo.

In the third week, Adhiambo says, the sister went quiet on the phone and other platforms, throwing the family into panic and forcing them to call Were, who, strangely, told them Doughty had landed another job at a bank in Migori.

Reportedly, Doughty’s mother was not convinced since her daughter had no background in banking. She embarked on a mission to inquire if there was anyone who had been employed in the bank in question. Her sources told the family no one had been hired not only in Migori but other branches of the bank.

Days after the confusing reports, the mother was still worried, and she suggested that Adhiambo travel to Meru to check if her sister was well.

“By the time I made the trip to Meru, Were was in Oyugis, and through friends I traced the MP’s residence where we found the houseboy. After I introduced myself and told him that my sister had been missing, the boy sought to assure me that indeed Doughty had arrived at the home and that she was around,” Adhiambo said.

“In the house, I noticed my sister’s Bible and other items in a room where I also found a towel, which was still damp. He insisted that my sister was okay. At a corner of that room, there was a door with grills,” she said.

Adhiambo left the former MP’s house and spent the night at a friend’s house in the town.

The following day, Adhiambo claims that the houseboy called her so she could meet him and share details of the sister’s whereabouts. But something weird happened.

Before taking off to meet the houseboy, she called again to establish the time and venue of the meeting. But someone different picked up his phone and reported that he had been hacked and had been rushed by police officers to Meru District Hospital for treatment.

In a bizarre turn of events, Adhiambo says, the hospitalised houseboy directed her to another person in Meru town who was to tell her the whereabouts of her sister.

“At that point, I realised something was not adding up and decided to involve the police. I reported a case of a missing person, but upon mentioning the place, the officer directed me to his boss, lamenting that there had been similar cases from the same house,” she shared.

Adhiambo says Were was summoned to the station but was furious and dismissed the matter. He claimed there were plans to tarnish his reputation and left in a huff. She decided to escalate the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

After some time, Adhiambo said the detectives concluded the probe and secured an order to search the house in question, even though she was not allowed in. The officers did not recover anything.

After unsuccessful attempts to trace her sister, Adhiambo left Meru in fear as the family resolved that their mother report the case to the police back in the village.

There, too, the frustrations were insurmountable.

“Whenever we tried any move, there was a blockade. Even the officers in Meru said they were afraid. At one point, my mother called Were asking him to produce the daughter, but he laughed of,f saying no one could touch him,” narrated Adhiambo.

Adhiambo says the case threw their mother into depression that eventually killed her last year. Those who had offered information in Meru suddenly went mute under unclear circumstances

“One of the people who had information warned me that Were was a very dangerous man. He told me I would disappear like my sister, or I would die,” she added.

Years on, the family is still living in optimism that their sister will return home, especially with Were now gone.

“We know people feared opening up, but right now there is no fear. At least they can tell us if she is alive or if she was buried somewhere so that we have closure. That is the closure that my mum cried for until her death,” Adhiambo pleads.

Before Were was fatally shot in Nairobi, many people outside Homa Bay did not know much about him.

But people in the larger Homa Bay County knew him very well. Were had been nicknamed Jakowaro and Pindra.

Soon after his election in 2017, Were started a slogan dubbed Tano Tena (five more years) was started to champion his re-election in 2022.

After his re-election, the slogan changed to Were Milele na Milele (Were forever), meaning he would serve forever as the MP for Kasipul.

During his political lifetime, Were could hardly miss funerals in the constituency, a show of love in the Luo community.

The local community perceives that a person who stands with one during grief is the true friend rather than one who is close in times of joy.

It was against this background that Were chose to attend funerals in the constituency. His Facebook account was full of updates on funerals he attended.

On April 28, for instance, his Facebook update read:

“Today, I attended the burial of my longtime supporter Joel Abach, who served faithfully as the ODM Vice Chairperson at Katanga Polling Station.”

In the same burial, however, a perceived critic of the MP was targeted by goons and left with deep cuts.

Several victims who claim they were attacked by the MP’s goons said he became a law unto himself after he was elected in 2017.

Edward Okwanyo, still nursing head wounds, described how the MP’s allies attacked him during his brother’s funeral two weeks ago.

“My late brother supported him, but I had stopped. The MP demanded control over the funeral arrangements. When I resisted, I received threats,” he said.

Okwanyo alleged that on the burial day, Were arrived with his supporters, sat briefly and demanded to be given a platform to speak. He then stirred up the crowd with inflammatory chants, inciting his goons against his opponent.

Shortly after, a group of youths attacked Okwanyo with a metal object, forcing him to flee before being rescued by a boda boda rider. He was treated for deep wounds at Matata Hospital in Oyugis and is now recovering at home.

His solidarity with mourners endeared him to a section of Kasipul residents who perceived him as a man of the people.

Some people remember him for his support in education in the constituency where he, at some point, would distribute a bursary of Sh10,000 to students in boarding schools and tertiary colleges and Sh3000 to those who were in day schools.

Then some encountered his wrath, among them journalists. One of them blamed his eventual sacking on Were’s influence.

Bill Ogaga, another victim, claimed he was attacked by Were’s men on April 6, during his grandfather’s funeral.

He narrated how the now slain MP and his men targeted and assaulted him, days after he had been threatened by those in his close circles.

“We were burying our grandfather when the MP and his men came and stormed the funeral. He had disagreed with one of the MCAs, and I did not know I was also going to be targeted,” he said.

Moments later, he claims, the MP’s men started chasing him. They caught up with him and thoroughly assaulted him. His brother, Koffi Ogaga, intervened and attempted to rescue him.

“I ran away. Unfortunately, my brother was hacked and left bleeding profusely,” he narrated.

A video of the two brothers crying while rushing to the hospital after the incident, lamenting about the continued violence in Kasipul, has since gone viral on social media.

The scribe-turned-consultant told the Nairobian how he and two colleagues were pursuing a defilement case in 2012 when they were attacked by goons allied to Were.

Even though the matter was reported to the police, the scribe says he would later be fired under unclear circumstances, but his colleagues were spared.

“The (suspension) letter indicated that I had been suspended for two weeks. What was worrying is that I was suspended even before filing my story because our investigations were still going on,” he said.

“I realised Were colluded with someone so that I could be sacked. We tried to negotiate with the management, but my senior then had made a strong network aiding my dismissal,” the scribe claimed.

Were operated businesses in Meru County, among them a cleaning services firm, over a decade ago.

Though a few who knew the specifics about his activities in Meru, where he lived near the Meru Prison, a man in his 40s claimed the MP also had a rental property in a different location near the town. They were hesitant to talk about him.

It is in the town that the late MP is said to have crossed paths with some people and authorities, while some people claim he was using different business names.

Kasipul MP Charles Ong'ondo Were has been arrested and is being detained at Oyugis Police Station for violating the COVID-19 regulations.

He had a flurry of several huge meetings with total disregard of COVID-19 containment measures.

He will be presented in court tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/4GsKw5oPUc

— Robert ALAI, HSC (@RobertAlai) July 21, 2020

Speaking in Meru on Wednesday, Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen said an ongoing investigation would lead to more arrests. Murkomen said it was a very heinous crime involving people, some under police custody, and investigators are expected to nab others.

“That incident is shocking, the circumstances under which the MP was killed, the manner under which it was done, despite him having security and him having been conscious about his life and gone public about the same. It is regrettable it turned out as it did,” Murkomen said.

Additional reporting by Pkemoi Ng’enoh and Phares Mutembei