Governor Okoth Obado, a man that keeps making headlines for all the wrong reasons is in the headlines again. Just weeks after being released on bond, the governor is again a guest of the state after the police arrested him this afternoon in Nairobi.
Obado’s arrest is in relation to the 8 guns found in his two homes of Migori and Nairobi.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption detectives yesterday raided Obado’s homes and offices in search of evidence that could help them solve the multi-million corruption scandal at Migori County.
During the raid at is homes and offices, the EACC detectives confiscated among other things, eight firearms, bank statements and electronics.
Five of the firearms are said to have been recovered at his Nairobi home while the other 3 were found in his Migori home.
The Firearms act does not clearly state the number of firearms one is entitled to but is specific to the types one is allowed to own.
Director of Criminal investigations George Kinoti had earlier revealed that the firearms will be subjected to ballistic examinations and verification of certificates at the Central Firearms Bureau (CFB)
The Migori Governor, who is also facing charges of murdering a university student, is also accused by the anti-graft body of siphoning Ksh.2 billion from the county coffers through companies registered by his relatives.
“The commission received credible information that a few persons well known to be proxies of the governor, registered several companies for the purpose of fraudulent acquisition of public funds through fictitious contracts,” says EACC in documents filed in court.
EACC investigators are said to be finalizing on their graft investigations before hauling the suspects in court.
Obado is believed to have used the stolen cash to maintain a flashy lifestyle for himself and his family. Detectives say that through the procurement scam, Mr Obado was able to build a home worth Sh100 million in Uriri in Migori County and send at least Sh13 million to his children.
The EACC has been investigating procurement at Migori County since last September.
On September 24, just a day before Migori County secretary Christopher Rusana was to furnish the EACC with tender documents to assist with investigations, the building used as a document storage facility burnt down.
EACC now insists that the fire was an arson attack aimed at destroying evidence that would completed the Sh2.5 billion puzzle.
“It is suspected that the aforementioned was not an unfortunate fire incident but an arson attack calculated to subvert the efforts of the commission to get to the bottom of the allegation of theft of over Sh2.5 billion from Migori County,” EACC detective Catherine Ngari says in court papers.
With his arrest Obado might be rejoining his friends and Caspel Obiero and Michael Oyamo who are still behind bars following the gruesome murder of Rongo University Student Sharon Otieno.
Obado was released but his co-accused Michael Oyamo and Caspal Obiero were denied bail by Milimani High Court judge Jessie Lesiit.
Oyamo is a PA to the governor while Obiero is a clerk working for Migori County government. The court ordered that they remain in custody until May 2019 when the next hearing will take place.
Should Obado be remanded for the new charges he is facing or granted bail?