The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts Friday allowed police to detain five suspects for 20 days pending probe into their involvement in the murder of Kasipul Member of Parliament Charles Were.
Magistrate Irene Gichobi had dismissed an application filed by the five suspects seeking to challenge the court’s jurisdiction in the case.
The magistrate stated that the suspects are still under investigation, and there is no legal basis preventing the court from handling the Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ (DCI) miscellaneous application.
The DCI was seeking to detain the five individuals for 30 days to allow for further investigations.
The suspects include the MP’s bodyguard, his driver, and a neighbour from his rural home who is also a member of the board of the Lake Basin Development Authority.
“The application by the respondents lacks merit and the same is dismissed,” ruled Magistrate Gichohi.
The suspects had argued that the case should be transferred to either the Milimani or Kibra Law Courts, claiming the alleged offence occurred within those jurisdictions.
However, the magistrate noted that the matter is still in the early investigative stage.
“This court is not trying the accused. It has only been called upon to issue custodial orders,” she said.
The suspects include the Lake Basin Authority board member Ebel Ochieng alias Dave Calo, the MP’s bodyguard and driver, Allan Ogola Omondi and Walter Owino Awino, respectively, Edwin Oduor Odhiambo and Dennis Sewe Manyasi.
A lawyer representing the victim’s family backed the DPP’s application be heard.
“I support the DPP. Section 67 of the CPC does not apply at this stage because these individuals are respondents, not accused persons,” said Apollo Mboya.
The magistrate allowed the police to detain them for 20 days from May 9.
The police want to detain the suspects to analyze CCTV footage, retrieve phone records, interview key witnesses, and conduct forensic tests.
They say the suspects were in communication before, during, and after the crime, and were near the scene.
Firearms and items matching witness descriptions were also recovered.
The police say more time is needed to complete investigations and possibly lay murder charges.
The police said the murder was planned way before its execution with meetings within and outside Nairobi.
“Therefore, more investigations will be conducted in Nairobi, Homabay and several other counties, a process that will require more time.”
The police said in court documents Calo is a close neighbour to the deceased at his rural home in Homa Bay and had threatened the deceased before this fatal incident.
“Similarly, the first respondent has adversely been mentioned by some suspects who are already in the custody as the person behind the planning and execution of this crime.”
They added the account of events has been corroborated by mobile phone numbers believed to have been fraudulently registered by Calo necessitating the time sought to enable investigators interrogate further such line of inquiry.
The trajectory of investigations that started with the arrest of the four respondents and persons of concern already in lawful custody has eventually necessitated the arrests of the bodyguard and driver assigned to the deceased.
Were who was shot and killed at a traffic jam along Valley Road near City Mortuary on April 30 was buried at his rural home on May 9, 2025.
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