Three to hang for killing former Embakasi MP Melitus Mugabe Were

For seven years, widow of slain former Embakasi MP Melitus Mugabe Were has gone through pain waiting for the day her husband’s killers will be brought to book.

Ms Agnes Wairimu’s pain was in losing her husband and also the suspicion that she might have been involved in his death on the night of January 29, 2008, at their home in Woodley Estate, Nairobi.
All that changed yesterday when the men who killed her husband were found guilty and sentenced to death.

“At last justice has been done and it is now clear who killed my husband. Those who have continuously suspected me have been proved wrong and although there is nothing I can do, I leave everything to God,” she said after the judgment.

James Omondi alias Castro, Wycliffe Walimbwa Simiyu alias Zimbo and Paul Otieno alias Baba murdered the MP, Mr Justice Luka Kimaru ruled on Tuesday.

The fourth suspect, Ms Mary Muthoni Wamaitha, was acquitted on grounds that she did not participate in the murder and was only a victim of circumstances being the wife of Paul Otieno, and that the guns used were recovered in their house.

Mr Justice Kimaru congratulated the police for a job well done, saying the investigations were thorough and the evidence so concrete leaving no doubt as to who killed Mr Were.

“I must appreciate the work of police for acting with utmost professionalism in this case. They had credible evidence and I hope they will apply the same in other cases,” said the judge. On the fateful day, Mr Were left his home in the morning for Parliament buildings where he stayed with friends until 1pm when he left for an ODM meeting at Orange House.

“He later left for a club on Lenana Road to meet a lady who wanted to sell him a car. At 11pm, he dropped the lady at her house in Imara Daima estate and headed to his home alone. It was then that the killers struck at the gate before the watchman could open for him,” said Mr Justice Kimaru.

Mr Were’s widow had testified that she heard three gun shots and when she came out, she found him lying next to the car and took him to Nairobi Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Investigations into his murder started with finger prints lifted from the MP’s car that matched those of the three suspects.

“Omondi was arrested in Eldoret. Some of his clothes had blood stains and a DNA test established that it was of Mr Were,” said the judge.

Omondi led police to his two accomplices who were also arrested.

Otieno then took police to his house in Waithaka where his wife (Mary Muthoni Wamaitha) produced two pistols hidden in a safe. She was also arrested.

Justice Kimaru said that examination of the pistols revealed that they were the same used to shoot Mr Were, leading to a conclusion that the three conspired to kill the legislator.