Obado barred from selling home, posh cars pending court verdict

High Court Judge James Wakiaga has issued temporary orders restraining Migori Govornor Okoth Obado from selling , charging , leasing or developing property named as Loresho Ridge house pending hearing and determination of the case filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).

The orders issued on Friday also forbids the governor from disposing off three high-end cars- Toyota Land Cruiser V8- pending hearing and determination of the case.

The anti-corruption body had sought orders to have Obado, his four children Evelyne Adhiambo Zachary, Dan Achola Okoth, Scarlet Susan Okoth and Jerry Zachary Okoth and 16 other proxies and companies enjoined in a suit seeking to recover the sum total of Ksh.73.5 million which it says was stolen by the accused through fictitious or irregular contracts.

Others who have been enjoined in the case are Jared Peter Odoyo kwaga, 13 companies as well as Oliver Okeno Odhiambo.

The EACC says it has received credible information that a few people who are proxies of the governor registered several companies for the sole purpose of procuring high value contracts from the county government of Migori.

The proceeds, mostly monies, were wired to the governor’s children, according to the EACC case.

Court bars governor Obado from selling home, posh cars pending verdict in case filed by EACC

In court documents seen by Citizen TV, EACC indicates that from the Ksh.73.5 million, a sum of Ksh. 38.9 million was used to pay university tuition fees and upkeep for Obado’s three children, while a portion of it went to the purchase of two luxurious V8 Land Cruisers.

The two vehicles were registered under Dan Achola Okoth and Oliver Odhiambo identified as the 3rd and 20th defendants.

According to the documents, the remaining Ksh. 34,525,000 million was used to purchase a house in Loresho Ridge in Nairobi.

The lease agreement was between the Kenya Power pension fund and Jared Peter Odoyo Kwaga, but the EACC says, the rental income from the property was being collected by Evelyne Adhiambo Zachary, Obado’s daughter.

According to the EACC, Jared Peter Odoyo Kwaga controlled most of the 16 companies while securing procurement contracts with the intention of channeling the proceeds to the governor

The investigations have unearthed what it believes was a money laundering scheme which resulted in several wire transfers from various bank accounts to Jared Kwaga for onward transmission to the governor.

The commission now wants bank accounts used by the accused to be frozen so that it can begin recovery of the proceeds arguing that the defendants can use their authority, agents, servants of employees to sell, lease, charge or transfer the illegally acquired properties in order to defeat the cause of justice.