(NAIROBI, KENYA) – A Kenyan court has found former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and two others guilty of the murder of university student Sharon Otieno, closing a criminal trial that has held national attention for more than seven years. Justice Cecilia Githua delivered the verdict on today Thursday at the High Court, ruling that the prosecution had proved its case against all three accused beyond reasonable doubt.
Obado was convicted alongside his former personal assistant Michael Oyamo and Caspal Obiero. The judge stated that the evidence pointed firmly to a planned killing carried out with malice aforethought.
“It is therefore my finding that the prosecution has proved its case against the first, the second, and the third accused persons beyond reasonable doubt. I consequently find each accused person guilty of the offence of murder,” Justice Githua said.
The court heard that Sharon Otieno, aged 26, was abducted, raped and murdered in September 2018 in Owade, Homa Bay County. She was 28 weeks pregnant at the time of her death. The trial involved testimony from 42 prosecution witnesses, the examination of 81 exhibits, and final submissions from both the prosecution and the defence.
In her ruling, the judge found that Obado provided the motive, the instructions and the money to finance the killing. Obiero was found to have provided logistical support and helped to conceal the crime to avoid detection. The court dismissed Obado’s defence that he had accepted the pregnancy and continued to support Sharon financially.
Justice Githua noted that although Obado learned of the pregnancy in March 2018, his behaviour changed markedly from that point. He became difficult to reach, stopped providing financial help and sought to prevent news of the relationship from becoming public.
“It cannot be a coincidence that he developed concern when publication emerged. Obado clearly wanted to contain it from the scope it had reached,” the court observed.
The judge accepted the prosecution’s argument that money sent to Sharon through intermediaries was not intended for her welfare. Instead, it was part of an effort to manage her or make her abandon her push to have the relationship publicly known, while a plan to eliminate her was being formed.
Evidence from a close friend of Sharon, identified in court as PW30, revealed that Obado had urged Sharon to end the pregnancy. He gave her KSh 30,000, equivalent to approximately USD 190 or GBP 150 at current rates, for an abortion and instructed her to deal with Oyamo on all matters relating to the pregnancy.
The witness also told the court that Sharon played her audio recordings of conversations with Obado. In those recordings, he pleaded with her not to publish their photographs on social media and repeatedly asked her to have an abortion, saying that time was running out.
The court also considered testimony from a family friend named Lawrence, who tried to mediate between the two after Obado admitted knowledge of the pregnancy. According to the evidence, Obado promised to buy Sharon land and build her a house if she gave up plans to expose the affair. Justice Githua ruled that these promises were not genuine. They were a tactic to gain time while a plan to kill her was put in place.
Sharon had repeatedly demanded that Obado publicly accept responsibility for the pregnancy. She asked him to provide her with a house, a car and employment. She made clear that if he failed to meet these demands, she would make the relationship public knowledge. The court found that this pressure formed the background to the crime.
Immediately after the verdict was read, the prosecution applied for the three men to be held in custody pending sentencing. The judge cancelled their bail and ordered that they be remanded. The three will now remain in prison until the court decides on their sentences.
The atmosphere in the courtroom shifted sharply over the course of the day. Earlier, Obado had arrived to a cheerful reception from a group of supporters. He shook hands and smiled as he entered the building. After the judgment, the room fell silent. A man could be heard crying. Sharon’s family and friends sat quietly on their side of the courtroom, waiting for the ruling they had sought for more than seven years.
The conviction marks the end of a trial that has tested Kenya’s judicial system and drawn intense public interest. The case involved a sitting governor at the time of the alleged crime, which raised questions about power, accountability and the treatment of women in Kenyan society. The court’s finding that a senior elected official financed and directed a violent crime carries significant weight for the country’s legal and political institutions.
Sentencing will take place at a later date. The three men now face the prospect of long prison terms. Under Kenyan law, a murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence, though judges retain discretion in determining the length of imprisonment based on the circumstances of the case.
