I did not kill Sharon Otieno: Obado tells High Court in emotional testimony

Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado has denied involvement in the murder of university student Sharon Otieno.

Addressing the the High Court on Wednesday, Obado, however, admitted to having had an affair with her and acknowledged that he had impregnated her, though he was not willing to marry her. 

“The relationship between Sharon and I was an open secret,” he said. “Staff within the Migori County government were aware of the affair.” 

He testified that his wife, Hellen Adhiambo, discovered the affair in May 2018 during a Devolution conference attended by all governors at the Acacia Hotel in Kisumu. 

“On the night of May 12, 2018, around 11pm, my wife called and asked whether I was at the Acacia Hotel or another hotel where Sharon had allegedly been booked,” Obado said. 

Though he denied staying at the same hotel as Sharon, he admitted to paying for her accommodation elsewhere in Kisumu. 

“At first, I denied knowing Sharon, but my wife told me she had planned to catch me with her at the hotel,” he testified. 

Eventually, he came clean. 

“I decided to open up that I truly had an affair with Sharon, and I offered my apology. I will not state the exact words I used,” he said, adding that his wife responded mockingly, telling him to bring Sharon home to live with them. 

He assured her that the relationship had ended but acknowledged responsibility for Sharon’s pregnancy. 

“By that time, it was no longer a secret. Social media was abuzz with the relationship,” Obado said, noting that his communication team was also aware. 

Obado said his Director of Communication Nicholas Anyuor approached him for guidance on how to handle the matter regarding the affair between him and Sharon. 

“I told him it was a private affair and not a county issue, so the media team didn’t need to intervene,” he said. 

Obado corroborated testimony from Chief Inspector Nicholas Ole Sena that the relationship was public knowledge. 

“My staff knew her (Sharon). When the relationship surfaced on social media, I became worried, mostly about my wife’s reaction,” he said.

“I wasn’t too worried about it affecting my work since I was serving my final term as governor. My biggest concern was resolving things with my wife, Hellen Adhiambo,” Obado added. 

He also disclosed that his firstborn son, Dan, knew about the affair before his wife did. 

Ida’s home

“My son is called Dan, and even before my wife discovered Sharon’s existence, Dan already knew about her,” he stated. 

He went on to describe an incident on June 18, 2018, when he and his wife had traveled abroad for one of their children’s graduations.  

“I called Dan and asked him to inform his siblings. Fortunately, he already knew about Sharon,” Obado said. 

“Then I introduced the topic about Sharon being pregnant, for me, his response was that he already knew about it,” the former governor informed the court. 

In his evidence, led by his lawyer Roger Sagana, Obado added that while having a conversation with his son, he realised that he had been communicating with Sharon earlier on.

“Dan said they knew each other through social media and Sharon told Dan that she could be her mother, and that she was carrying his brother, and she even sent her baby bump photos,” Obado said adding that at one point, Dan had even given Sharon a lift to Nairobi for medical check up.  

Testifying before Justice Cecilia Githua at the Milimani Law Courts, Obado gave a detailed account of his whereabouts during the days surrounding Sharon’s brutal murder on September 3, 2018.

“I did not kill Sharon Otieno. I did not conspire to kill Sharon,” Obado told the court in a composed but emotional tone.

Sharon, a Rongo University student, was abducted and later found murdered in Kodera Forest, Homa Bay County.

She had suffered eight stab wounds, which also led to the death of her unborn baby.

At the time of her death, Sharon was seven months pregnant.

Obado outlined his movements from September 1 to 4, 2018, to counter claims placing him near the crime scene.

“On September 1, 2018, which was a Saturday, I was in church the whole day because we had a function near my home. On September 2, a Sunday, I spent the morning receiving visitors, and by noon, I left for Nairobi with my driver, bodyguard, wife, and one of my youngest daughters.”

Obado told the court they arrived in Nairobi around 9pm and spent the night at his Lavington residence.

“On September 3, I left the house at around 10am and went to meet my friends, including lawyer Evans Ondieki, at Lavington Mall. We stayed together until around 3pm when we went for a late lunch,” Obado testified.

Later that day, he recalled remembering an appointment with Ida Odinga, wife to ODM leader Raila Odinga.

“I had spoken to Mama Ida earlier; we were to meet in Bondo, but when I called her after church on Saturday, she said she was returning to Nairobi. So, I called her again after lunch, and she said she had just gotten home, so I went to see her at her Karen residence,” he added.

According to Obado, he arrived at Ida Odinga’s home at 5pm and left shortly after the 7pm news bulletin to return home.

He also denied the prosecution’s claims that his mobile phone was near where Sharon’s body was found on the evening of September 3.