Widow recounts Sh5,200 transfer minutes before Ong’ondo Were was killed
Margaret Korir, while testifying before the court on Wednesday, recalled the final moments before learning of her husband's death, saying the money was.
The car Kasipul MP Charles Were was in when he was shot dead at the City Mortuary roundabout in Nairobi. (Photo: Handout)
The widow of former Kasipul MP Charles Ong'ondo Were has told the High Court that her husband sent her Sh5,200 through M-Pesa just minutes before he was gunned down in Nairobi, as the murder trial against five accused persons continued at the Kibera Law Courts.
Margaret Korir, while testifying before the court on Wednesday, recalled the final moments before learning of her husband's death, saying the money was sent to her at exactly 7:30 pm.
She told the court that after receiving the funds, she drove to a nearby petrol station and, about 10 minutes later, attempted to call the late legislator.
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"I called him at around 7:40 pm, but it was his bodyguard who answered the phone while crying," Korir testified.
She said the emotional response from the bodyguard immediately made her fear that something terrible had happened.
"I ended the call because I knew something was wrong," she told the court.
A short while later, Korir said, her son called and informed her that his father had been shot.
The court also heard evidence from the former MP's son, Boyd Were, who testified that he had previously urged his father to alter his daily routine after receiving repeated threats to his life.
According to Boyd, he advised the legislator to stop using his regular vehicle and instead travel in his son's car as a security precaution.
"I suggested that he use my vehicle because I believed it would be safer," Boyd testified.
However, he told the court that his father was attacked while travelling in the same vehicle.
The prosecution alleges that Ong'ondo was shot dead on April 30, 2025, at a roundabout near the Nairobi City Mortuary in what investigators have described as a premeditated attack.
Five people are facing trial over the killing. They are the late MP's bodyguard Allan Omondi Ogolla, William Imoli Shighali, who the prosecution identifies as the alleged gunman, Edwin Oduor Odhiambo, Ebel Ochieng', and Isaac Kura.
The accused have all denied the murder charges and remain in custody pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The trial will resume on October 21, 2026, when the prosecution is expected to call additional witnesses.