They say that blood is thicker than water and that family shall always come first. Migori governor Okoth Obado’s family has come out to protest the manner in which the governor has been handled for the past few weeks. Obado’s family has said that it is fed up with everything that the governor is going through.
In a Press Conference yesterday evening, Obado’s family claim that his woes have been brought by a senior politician from the Luo Nyanza region that is growing afraid of the great following that the embattled governor continues to command even during these seemingly turbulent moments.
“What is happening to our son is a political witch hunt. We are tired as a family and we can’t take it anymore,” Otewa said.
Obado’s Kanyamkago clan members read malice in the manner in which anti-corruption officials raided Obado’s homes and in the process recovering 8 guns with 3 of the guns said to be illegal.
“Officers who raided his Rapogi home went to a local SDA Church where we worship to ask pastors how much our son has been contributing in the Church,” Otewa said.
Obado’s brother Daudi Obado, said the governor’s tribulations started because of his differences with a senior politician in Nyanza, whom they did not name, why back in 2002 when he was at the Kenya Sugar Board.
“The politician started frustrating our son in 2002 to stifle him politically. The same senior politician undermines democracy and an alternative voice in Nyanza,” Daudi said.
He said Obado got resistance when tried to vie for Uriri MP in 2007, and as governor twice in 2013, 2017.
“We need openness in the court system in the cases the governor is facing,” Daudi said.
The family said Obado has been defamed in social media as if “Migori is the only corrupt county in Kenya, and Obado the most corrupt Kenyan.”
“We have seen counties especially in Nyanza lagging behind in development, yet there is much corruption. This one of Migori is overblown,” he said,
The family said their son is human, and even if he had erred, his mistreatment is too much for them to bear.
On Thursday, the governor appeared before chief magistrate Joyce Gandani at Kibera Law Courts to face charges after eight guns were found in his homes.
Chief magistrate Joyce Gandani said the bail ruling will be delivered on Friday. Police had sought 15 days to detain Obado for further investigations into the illegal gun possession case.
The governor was arrested by DCI on Wednesday after an EACC raid at his Nairobi and Migori homes netted eight guns.
The defence team led by Cliff Ombeta argued that the governor has cooperated with security agencies hence should be granted bail.
He further argued that the county boss, who is also facing a murder charge, has lived by the bail terms for the said case.
The defence further told the court that Obado is not a flight risk and will present himself when needed by the investigative agencies.
Ombeta also dismissed the DPP’s request for more days on grounds of conducting a ballistic examination at the scene.
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