A boda boda rider who was arrested from Nairobi’s Kibera slums over the murder of Kasipul MP Ong’ondo Were has confessed to the mission. 

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the suspect, Amos Baraza, had told them he was paid Sh50,000 for the mission. 

Baraza was arrested on Tuesday night in an operation in the slum. 

He told the detectives he was the one who had the motorcycle that was used in ferrying the assassin from the Parliament area to the murder scene and back to Parliament. 

The motorcycle was also recovered from his house in Laini Saba area, police said. He, however, said he did not know the victim was an MP, and only came to learn of it later when he heard locals talk about it. 

After ferrying the killer from Parliament to the scene and back to Parliament, he dropped another client in Kiamaiko area and rode back to Kibera, where he has been staying since then. 

His arrest brings to 12 the number of suspects in custody over the murder of the MP on April 30 along Valley Road near City Mortuary. He will be presented in court on Thursday, the police said. 

Weekend arrest 

Another suspect, identified as Isaac Kuria, alias “Kush”, was arrested over the weekend in Isebania at the Kenya-Tanzania border while planning to flee the country. 

Kuria is suspected to have been part of the gang that carried out the hit on the late MP before staging a calculated escape. 

Kuria is believed to have travelled to the Central Business District on the day of the murder with the assassination mission. Mobile phone triangulation has placed him at various primary crime scenes. 

He was on the motorcycle that was involved in the attack as a pillion passenger. 

After the attack, Kuria is said to have fled to Mihango in Kayole, where he disposed of the murder weapon, which has since been recovered by police, and ballistic tests confirmed it was used. 

He then embarked on a journey to Narok by another motorbike to evade police detection. He left his motorcycle in Narok and hopped onto a public service vehicle to Isebania. 

He has been in communication with a relative in Tanzania, coordinating an escape plan, police say. 

Detectives, who were monitoring communications between Kuria and other suspects already in custody, tracked and arrested him at a local lodging in Isebania. 

Among those already detained are Were’s bodyguard Allan Omondi, his driver Walter Owino, and William Imoli, who is believed to have played a central role in planning and financing the assassination on behalf of others who have not been arrested. 

Others include businessman and politician Phillip Aroko and Lake Basin Development Authority Director Ebel Ochieng, who are both alleged financiers, and Edwin Oduor and Dennis Manyasi. 

They have all been detained between 20 and 30 days to enhance investigations. 

The DCI has indicated that efforts to apprehend other individuals believed to have been involved in the planning and execution of the murder are ongoing.