National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi has revealed that he is the one who introduced NMG journalist Barrack Oduor to Okoth Obado.
Oduor is the journalist who was kidnapped together with slain Rongo University student Sharon Otieno
Speaking to the Nation on Thursday, Mr Mbadi said Mr Oduor approached him seeking his help in getting access to the governor over a “sensitive” matter.
He added: “Your journalist Barrack approached me asking me to help him reach Obado over what he called a very sensitive matter.
“I however forgot about it but after one or two days the governor called me over a totally different matter. After we had discussed the matter, I remembered and told him, ‘by the way, there is a Nation reporter based in Homa Bay who wants to talk to you over some matter he says is sensitive, so please get in touch with him’.
“The governor told me, ‘No problem, give me his (Oduor) number’ and I gave him the number. I remember it was on September 1. That is as far as it went. Barrack is my friend and it is not unusual for me to give contacts of my friends to journalists whenever they want to get in touch with them.”
The phone call triggered a series of events that ended with the brutal murder of the seven month pregnant university student.
Mr Oduor knew Ms Otieno for close to a month, the two met several times and even travelled together twice from Homa Bay to Nairobi on a mission to meet the Governor, but did not manage to, as Mr Obado had travelled to Makueni with other governors.
Interviewed by fellow journalists at Nation Centre, Mr Oduor said he was approached by Ms Otieno who told him that she needed to share a story with him.
“We met for the first time almost a month ago and she told me that she had been having an affair with the governor. I questioned her about her details and she said she was a student.
“She also told me that she wanted the story made public because the governor had neglected her. Even so, she admitted to have received Sh100,000 from the governor three weeks before our meeting, an amount she said was too little as compared to what she had been receiving from him before he started ignoring her calls and texts,” Mr Oduor said.
According to Mr Oduor, Ms Otieno she revealed that their affair went sour when the governor discovered that Ms Otieno had been chatting with his own son.
The governor accused her of having an affair with him.
To prove the allegations, Ms Otieno showed Mr Oduor telephone conversations and WhatsApp chats between herself and Mr Obado.
She allegedly also played a recording of a phone conversation whereby the governor purportedly asked her to have an abortion and stop posting too many pictures on social media.