At a busy roundabout in Nairobi, another Kenyan parliamentarian’s life was cut short on Wednesday night. Charles Ong’ondo Were, a second-term MP representing Kasipul constituency, was gunned down by assassins on a motorcycle in what appears to be a meticulously planned attack.

As his constituency mourns, something troubling has emerged on social media, with some Kenyans not expressing grief but celebrating the killing.

Were’s assassination, carried out at a usually police-monitored junction equipped with surveillance cameras, speaks to a brazen lawlessness that has taken root in the capital. As of Friday morning, no suspects had been arrested. That armed killers could trail a sitting MP and execute him without immediate consequences says plenty about the inadequacy of Kenya’s security apparatus.

Kenya has been here before. In 2015, another MP, George Muchai, who represented Kabete constituency, fell to an assassin’s bullet in the centre of the city, and 10 years later, the murder case is still being litigated.

This pattern of high-profile killings followed by investigations that seem to go nowhere has created a culture of impunity where even the murder of a national legislator carries little risk of meaningful consequence.
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Were himself had publicly voiced fears for his safety months before his death, claiming “hired goons” were plotting to assassinate him. His concerns, apparently dismissed by authorities, now come across as an indictment of Kenya’s failure to protect even those who express their fears aloud.

But what has troubled us more is the response from segments of the Kenyan public. While Homa Bay County mourns, elsewhere Kenyans have taken to social media not in solidarity with Were’s family and constituents but in celebration, with some even suggesting these assassins should target other politicians.

This grim reaction suggests that Kenya is at a dangerous juncture in the national discourse. These people openly cheering an assassination see violence as a solution to political grievances.

The jubilation over Were’s death also demonstrates the depth of the breakdown in trust between Kenyans and their elected officials. Years of ostentatious displays of wealth amid widespread poverty, self-serving legislation, and apparent indifference to citizens’ struggles have transformed our political class from the servants they are supposed to be to objects of public contempt.

Celebrating assassination says that we have accepted violence against those with whom we disagree. This in turn means that we have surrendered the principles of democracy and rule of law that undergird any functioning society.

Were’s family and friends expect swift justice that must go beyond the killers to the people who ordered the killing.

Protection for officials who report threats must be strengthened. And the political class must acknowledge their role in fostering resentment, because it’s they who have disconnected themselves from citizens’ suffering.