Former MP's son murdered by assailants riding on a motorcycle

Former Matungu MP David Aoko Were addresses the Press at the JOOTRH morgue in Kisumu, on May 24, 2026. [Rodgers Otiso, Standard]

Former Matungu MP David Were's son was killed by unknown assailants riding on a motorcycle in Kisumu on Saturday night.

Hanington Were, 39, an employee of the National Social Security Fund, was murdered in Tom Mboya Estate.

This is the second son of the former MP to be killed this year.

In January 2026, Were’s 41-year-old son was murdered by his tenant over unclear circumstances.

On Sunday, Hannington's wife, Faniet Akinyi, said he left the house with a friend headed to the Mamba trading centre to purchase a packet of milk when he met his death. 

"I'm not sure when he left the house. I was unwell, so I went to bed early. I left him with his friends in the living room. The next thing I heard was that my husband had been killed. I couldn't believe it," Akinyi told journalists at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital's Kwee Funeral Home, where the body was lying. 

Were, told journalists that he received the shocking news of his son's death from his daughter-in-law. 

"I received a phone call at around 3 am from my daughter-in-law. She told me that her husband, who's my son, has died. He left the house with a friend to go and look for something to eat, and upon reaching Makini International School, he was attacked by two people who were riding on a motorcycle," he said. 

The former MP said he last spoke to his son on Wednesday last week, when he informed him that he was on a short leave after being taken ill.

He revealed that the attackers hit Hanington on the head with a blunt object before stabbing him in the abdomen and left him for dead. 

"His friend ran to safety when the attackers came, but upon returning back with a group of other boda boda riders, they found that the attackers had disappeared and my son was lying down in a pool of blood," he said. 

"It's saddening and painful. Losing a son in such a manner is not easy; it's so painful," he added. 

In 2023, Were was attacked in Kisumu by assailants riding on a motorcycle near the Lake Basin Mall entrance.

"It's a disturbing kind of pain because in the month of January this year we lost another son in almost a similar situation. He was attacked and killed by his tenant in Nairobi. Now, in one year, I have lost two sons," he told journalists. 

"Kisumu has become unsafe. On May 9, 2023, I was attacked near the entrance of the Lake Basin Mall. These are not my real teeth; my jaw was also reconstructed. I was left for dead. It has been three years, and the investigations have not yielded anything," he said. 

He called on the authorities to take matters of security seriously and ensure that criminal gangs causing havoc in the city are brought to book. 

"I want to urge the institutions dealing with security to up their game so that this issue of rampant security in Kisumu can be addressed," he said. 

Hanington has left behind a wife and two children. 

His mother, Jane Aoko Were, was visibly disturbed by the killing coming months after the burial of her elder son, who died in almost similar circumstances. 

"We just buried one a few months ago; now we're going to bury another again," she said amid sobs. 

"Instead of us being buried by our children, it is vice versa, it's us burying our children. Now I'm left with my husband, who's old, and I'm also old. This is terrible," she added. 

"I'm left with three orphaned grandchildren. The wives of my sons don't work, meaning the responsibility of taking care of them is my husband and me," she said. 

A police officer who did not want to be named said they have already launched investigations into the incident.