One of the suspects in the Kasipul MP Ong’ondo Were’s murder case has been arrested.

Isaac Kuria alias ‘Kush’, who was arrested on Sunday at a lodging in Isebania along the Kenya-Tanzania border, is said to have been communicating with a relative in Tanzania as he was planning the escape.

According to police, he rode to Narok before he abandoned his motorcycle and took a passenger shuttle to Isebania.

His communication with other suspects already in custody was being monitored, and it is what led to his arrest, almost 400km from Nairobi, shortly before he crossed the border.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed that Kuria travelled to the city centre the day MP Were was shot dead, and mobile phone triangulation has placed him at various primary and secondary crime scenes.

Criminal networks

The suspect is also reportedly linked to criminal networks in Nairobi and its environs, and his arrest brings to 11 the total number of suspects so far arrested in connection with the April 30 fatal shooting of Were, along Nairobi’s Valley Road.

Detectives said the suspect trailed Were’s movements before fatally shooting him in traffic. He had the motorcycle that was involved in the attack.

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.

“After the murder, the suspect rode a motorcycle to Narok to escape the detectives, and while there, he abandoned the motorcycle and took a shuttle to Isebania,” a senior DCI officer said.

Another man found with him was also detained and was both transferred to Nairobi before being arraigned at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) law courts.

Among those already detained are Were’s bodyguard Allan Omondi, his driver Walter Owino, and William Imoli.

Others include businessman and politician Phillip Aroko and Lake Basin Development Authority board member Ebel Ochieng -both alleged financiers -along with Edwin Oduor and Dennis Manyasi. Oduor and Manyasi voluntarily and out of their free will led the detectives to Oduor’s house at Arisla Heights Apartment in Mihango, where a search was conducted and evidence, including the firearms recovered.

The detectives are also analysing financial transactions connected to the suspects, which may shed light on the motive behind the assassination.

Ochieng is said to have also fraudulently registered some mobile phone numbers. He is a neighbour of the deceased at his rural home in Homa Bay, and is said to have threatened the MP before the incident.

He was also mentioned adversely by some main suspects who are in custody.

“This account has been corroborated by mobile phone numbers believed to have been fraudulently registered by Calo,” the investigating officer stated.

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja last week said the MP’s bodyguard and driver were in constant communication with some of the planners before and after the murder.

“Through mobile phone triangulation and interrogation of witnesses, persons of interest and the respondents’ accomplices, it has been revealed that the respondents were in constant communication before, during and after the commission of the crime.”