Chained yet free; Obado spends another night in Remand

Supporters of Migori County Governor, Okoth Obado today pitched tent outside the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi standing in solidarity with their governor ahead of his bail hearing for the murder of the slain Migori University student, Sharon Otieno.

The Migori governor, and his two counterparts; Personal Assistant Michael Oyamo and Migori County Clerk Caspal Obiero were on September 24th charged with two counts of murder, that of Sharon Otieno and her unknown baby .

There was a celebratory mood for the governor and his supporters when the High Court judge, Jessie Lessit made a ruling, granting Mr. Obado a five million Kenya shillings cash bail. However, the celebrations have been cut short as the Migori governor now has to spend another night in police custody at the Industrial Area Remand which he has called home for over one month now.

According to Obado’s lawyer, Cliff Ombeta, there was an issue with one of his sureties and due to time restrictions, they were not able to handle it before close of business and thus were forced to deal with the issue on Thursday morning. This means that Governor Obado will be spending another night at the Industrial Area remand prison despite being released.

The Governor is said to have already deposited the Ksh. 5 million cash bail and presented two of his vehicles; a Toyota Prado and Toyota Land Cruiser V8 as sureties.

The governor’s wife, Mrs. Hellen Obado appears to have counted her chicks before they hatched when she took to Facebook to quote Scripture about faith when the Governor was released on bail.

 

 

“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’, and it would move. Nothing would be impossible – Mathew 17:20.” She said on her Facebook page.

The issue with sureties is not the Governor’s only nightmare and threat to complete freedom. When the judge gave her ruling, she also warned Obado on a number of issues that do not give him full freedom.

According to Justice Jessie Lessit, the governor is expected to stay within Migori County and not go anywhere further than 2okm from it. The governor was also prohibited from mentioning the deceased or the case in gatherings and/or political meetings whether in public or private. Additionally, he was asked to surrender all his travel documents.

 

With the hearing of the case set for May 2019, do you think the family of Sharon Otieno will get justice?

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