Kenyan opposition MP is killed in 'targeted' shooting

A Kenyan opposition legislator was shot dead in the capital Nairobi in what police have described as a “targeted and premeditated” crime
Crime scene unit investigators and Kenya Police detectives inspect a vehicle in which Kenyan MP Charles Ong'ondo Were was shot dead on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 night after his car stopped at a roundabout on a busy major road in the capital Nairobi. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

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Crime scene unit investigators and Kenya Police detectives inspect a vehicle in which Kenyan MP Charles Ong'ondo Were was shot dead on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 night after his car stopped at a roundabout on a busy major road in the capital Nairobi. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan opposition legislator was shot dead in the capital Nairobi in what police have described as a “targeted and premeditated” crime.

MP Charles Were was shot on Wednesday night after his car stopped at a roundabout on a busy major road.

President Willian Ruto urged police to conduct a “through investigation” and said Thursday that those responsible “must be held to account.”

Were was in the company of his driver and bodyguard when a motorcycle taxi approached their car, and a passenger disembarked and approached their car before firing at the MP, police said in a statement.

The legislator was reelected in 2022 to represent Kasipul constituency in western Kenya for the Orange Democratic Movement party.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga described Were as a “gallant son of the soil.”

Odinga was President Ruto’s main challenger in the 2022 general election.

Political tensions in Kenya have simmed down since last year, when the country saw a series of opposition-backed anti-government protests during which dozens of people died. Ruto later appointed members of Odinga's party to the cabinet and the two leaders signed a political pact in March this year.

The blood stained vehicle in which Kenyan MP Charles Ong'ondo Were was shot dead on Wednesday, April 30, 2025 night after his car stopped at a roundabout on a busy major road in the capital Nairobi. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Credit: AP

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Credit: AP