Governor Obado and his 4 children arrested in Kisii, being transferred to Nairobi

Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his four children were early Wednesday morning arrested after surrendering to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) offices in Kisii for questioning over the alleged embezzlement of over Ksh.73 million public funds.

According to sources who spoke to Citizen Digital, the five arrived at the station around 7am and were driven out for EACC headquarters in Nairobi a few minutes to 11am under tight security.

A lawyer to one of the suspects however said they did not record any statement and were also not presented with any charge sheet in Kisii, hence are most likely to be charged in Nairobi.

GAVANA OBADO AHOJIWA
Gavana wa Migori anahojiwa kuhusu wizi wa pesa za kaunti
Mkurugenzi wa mashtaka ya umma Noordin Haji alisema Obado ashtakiwe
Obado pamoja na wengine wanatuhumiwa kuiba Sh.73M za umma #SemaNaCitizen pic.twitter.com/8tIKtmotZA

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 26, 2020

Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji on Tuesday ordered the arrest and prosecution of the governor and his four children among others over the embezzlement of the said funds from county coffers.

DPP Haji, in a press statement, said EACC commenced investigations following intelligence reports on allegations of gross misappropriation of public funds by Governor Obado through designated proxies.

The DPP said that, upon perusal of the file from EACC, he discovered that the governor received a total sum of Ksh.73,474,376.90 indirectly through his children from companies trading with the Migori County Government between the financial years 2013/ 2014 and 2016/ 2017.

The money trail from the companies revealed that Ksh.38,949,376.90 was wired to accounts held by Governor Obado’s children, namely: Achola Dan Okoth, Susan Scarlet Okoth and Jerry Zachary Okoth.

The money, added the DPP, was used to pay the children’s school fees, upkeep, maintenance and medical bills in Australia, Scotland and United Kingdom while some was also traced to have bought two motor vehicles of make, Toyota Land Cruiser V8.

The trail further disclosed that Ksh.34,525,000 was used to purchase a house in Loresho Ridge whose beneficial owner is Evelyne Adhiambo Zachary, the governor’s other daughter daughter.

These companies and business entities are: Misoft Company Limited, Tarchdog Printers, Deltrack ICT services, Seletrack Consultants, Mactebac Contractors, Joyush Business, Swyfcon Engineering, Atinus Services, Kajulu business, Victorious investment, Dolphus Softwares, Dankey Press and Pesulus Services.

According to the Haji, the proprietors of these companies were proxies of the governor, including 3 of whom were brothers, namely; Jared Peter Kwaga, Patroba Ochanda and Joram Opala; and their mother Penina Auma Otago, and the spouse to Jared Peter Kwaga, Christine Akinyi and his sister-in -law Carolyne Onyango.

The DPP hence said he is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to arrest and charge the above named persons with various criminal offences.