Mellitus Mugabe Were (9 August 1968 – 29 January 2008) was a Kenyan politician affiliated to the

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augu ...

(ODM). He was elected to the

National Assembly of Kenya The National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Kenya. Between 1966 and 2013, it served as a unicameral house. In 2013 ( 11th Parliament), it became the lower house when the Senate was reestablis ...

to represent

Embakasi Constituency Embakasi Constituency, (formerly known as, Nairobi East Constituency), was a former electoral constituency in Kenya. It was one of eight constituencies of Nairobi Province. It consisted of eastern and southeastern suburbs of Nairobi. With 164,227 ...

in the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on 27 December 2007. He was killed outside his house in the

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

suburb of Woodley, adjacent to the Kibera slum.

Political career

Were had been a voice for moderation in Kenya's escalating political crisis, shuttling between leaders of different ethnic groups and organising a youth peace march just before he died.

Death

Were was returning home in Woodley Estate,

, after 11 pm, and whilst waiting for the gate to his house to be opened, he was shot three times. His widow, Agnes Wairimu, alerted by the gunshots, came outside and found him, taking him to Nairobi Hospital. He was announced dead on arrival. ODM spokespersons were quick to blame the government, however President Mwai Kibaki also condemned the murder as a "heinious crime". As mourners gathered outside his home, the police arrived and fired tear gas at them. 50 youth from amongst the mourners started to erect barricades. The police claimed that tear gas only drifted into the compound of Were's house, but local TV stations provided evidence that canisters were deliberately targeted on the house.

Culprits sentenced

Using fingerprint evidence the police were able to track down James Omondi (alias Castro) as the first suspect. He led them to the other two, Wycliffe Walimbwa Simiyu (alias Zimbo) and Paul Otieno (alias Baba). All three were found guilty of his murder on 9 February 2015.

Sources

''Respectance''
(includes photo)

References

Assassinated Kenyan politicians Deaths by firearm in Kenya 1968 births 2008 deaths People murdered in Kenya Orange Democratic Movement politicians Members of the National Assembly (Kenya) 2000s assassinated politicians in Africa {{Kenya-politician-stub