Tributes have poured in for Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were who died Wednesday night after he was shot by unknown gunmen along Ngong Road in Nairobi.

The 51-year-old legislator had left Parliament shortly after 6 p.m. and was driving towards Mbagathi when he was attacked near the City Mortuary roundabout. Police said two men on a motorbike pulled up next to his car, shattered the driver’s window and fired several rounds at close range.

Were was rushed to Nairobi Hospital by good Samaritans but was pronounced dead on arrival. His body remained in the emergency wing into the night as shocked relatives and colleagues gathered at the facility.

“We have received with shock and disbelief the tragic death of the Hon Charles Ong’ondo Were MP Kasipul at the hands of a gunman,” the Orange Democratic Movement said in a statement on X.

The party called the killing a national tragedy and demanded swift investigations.

“While we join his constituents, the people of Homa Bay, his family and friends in mourning, we call on the police to investigate the shooting incident and bring the culprits to book.”

ODM deputy leader and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said the country was drifting into a dangerous normalisation of violence

“This painful loss has robbed a family of a father and husband, a constituency of a committed leader and a nation of a patriotic servant,” he said. “We must not normalise this violence.”

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale described Were as a fearless and principled leader

“Those who planned and executed this heinous crime must face the full force of the law,” he said.

Mumias East MP Peter Salasya urged the government to invest in better public surveillance systems

“It makes no sense to have political assassinations in this era and age especially with the kind of technology at our disposal,” he said.

Saboti MP Caleb Amisi said he had spoken to Were just hours earlier

“I was with my colleague just this afternoon in Parliament. He told me, ‘I need a conversation with you, mambo si mazuri.’ Five hours later, he is no more.”

Were was serving his second term in Parliament having first been elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2022 under ODM. He was vice chair of the National Cohesion Committee and a member of the Committee on Blue Economy and Irrigation.

He held a Bachelor’s and Diploma in Business Management from Mt Kenya University and a certificate in computerised accounting from Meru University. Before joining politics he worked in senior roles in the private sector.

Police say the motive remains unclear and investigations are ongoing.