MP hired two men to kill rival, court told

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‘‘He told me that Waibara had contracted them to kill me and dump my body. But he said they did not want to kill me and that I needed to lie low, ” Mr Bernard Chege 

By CHARLES MWANIKI cmwaniki@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Thursday, September 13  2012 at  21:00

IN SUMMARY

• Complainant claims he fled into hiding after the hitmen told him of the plot

Gatundu North MP Clement Waibara hired two men for Sh300,000 to kill a political rival and dump his body, a court heard on Thursday.

But the gangsters informed the target, Mr Bernard Chege, of the plot, forcing him to go into hiding in Nakuru.

The MP is charged with conspiring to kill Mr Chege between April 1, 2010, and March 31, 2011.

Mr Chege claimed that Mr Waibara had contacted him through a local councillor in 2010, asking him to withdraw an election petition and not to testify in court.

However, Mr Waibara’s lawyer, Mr Evans Ondieki, accused the complainant of dishonesty and a man who had tried to extort money from the MP alongside the men he said were sent to kill him.

Mr Chege had told the Nyeri court in his testimony that a man he only knew as Michael alias Junior came to him in August 2008 — two months after he had filed a petition against Mr Waibara’s poll win — and told him that he had been hired by the MP to kill him.

“He told me that Waibara had contracted them to kill me and dump my body. But he said they did not want to kill me and that I needed to lie low until they had been paid the balance,” said Mr Chege.

He said he knew the man he called Junior, saying that they hailed from the same location in Gatundu.

In cross-examination, Mr Ondieki asked Mr Chege why he had not listed Junior and the aunt who hosted him in Nakuru as witnesses.

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The lawyer also questioned why the complainant had not reported to the police that his life was in danger until three years later.

Mr Chege replied that he believed that police would not help him.

Heated exchange

There was a heated exchange between Mr Ondieki and Mr Chege when the lawyer brought up the judgment of an election petition in which he said the judge had described all the witnesses called by the petitioner (Mr Chege) as having questionable character.

Mr Ondieki said he brought up the issue to prove that the complainant was not honest.

Mr Chege, however, said the two issues were unrelated and the witnesses in the cases were different.

The witness was stood down until November 2 so that a certified copy of a High Court murder case file dating back to 2005 could be produced in court.

Mr Ondieki said the file shows that the judge had recommended that Mr Chege be investigated in connection to that case.