Governor Obado to be Impeached

Migori Governor Okoth Obado stares at possible impeachment. This comes after an Orange Democratic Party consultative meeting that was held in Nairobi. The impeachment was announced by ODM Chairman John Mbadi.

In the meeting that was attended by 41 MCAs, it is said that 37 of them voted to have Obado impeached from his gubernatorial office. There were four ward reps who did not attend the meeting.

Obado Corruption Allegations

Governor Obado is accused of corruption in the county, in a graft case that also involves his four children and other relatives. The Milimani courts magistrate who was handling his case released him on Sh 8.7 million cash bail. The governor was barred from accessing his office and directed not to travel outside Kenya. It was this decision by the court that led the Orange Democratic Party to call for an urgent meeting. In their official Twitter account, ODM stated that they plan for Migori Deputy Governor to take over.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) had been investigating Obado for a while. They shared their findings with Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji, who stated that he agreed with EACC. The DPP then ordered for Okoth Obado to be arraigned in court. It was alleged that the governor, through companies owned by his relatives, siphoned out Migori County funds.

The amount in question was totaling Kshs 73.4 million, which Obado received, and this was just during his first term. The Director of Public Prosecutions further said that a total of Kshs 34.5 million was given to his four children. These are Sons Dan Achola and Jerry Zachary, and daughters Evelyn Adhiambo and Susan Scarlet. These payments were made in regards to performance contracts in the county.

Evelyn Adhiambo is accused to have bought an apartment in the Loresho area of Nairobi, using Kshs 34.5 million of the funds. Two Toyota Land Cruisers are also said to have been purchased from the embezzled funds.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission undertook an extensive audit trail, which revealed how Kshs 38.9 million was spend on the four children of Obado to cater for their expenses while they were in the United Kingdom, Australia and Scotland. The money is said to have paid for their upkeep, medical bills and school fees.

Also involved in the scandal were Governor Obado’s three brothers Joram Opala, Jared Kwaga and Patroba Ochanda. It is said that they were acting as Obado’s proxies in the transactions.

The performance contracts in Migori involved the following companies, among others: Dolphus Softwares, Mactebac Contractors, Atinus Services, Joyush Business, Pesulus Services, Kajulu Business and Seletrack Consultants.

This is another case involving the Migori Governor, who was also accused for allegedly being involved in the Sharon Otieno case, where she passed on while pregnant with her son. Sharon who was then a student at Rongo University, was alleged to have been Obado’s girlfriend.

County Impeachments

The alleged corruption activities by Okoth Obado is a big blow to the Orange Democratic Party, which has enjoyed innocence, as most of the corruption cases in counties involved Governors voted under the Jubilee Party.

The latest Governor to be impeached was the former Kiambu County Boss Ferdinand Waititu, who was involved in a multi-million scandal. Waititu was to appear in court, but his lawyers said he cannot attend the court session as he was under quarantine.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru was impeached by the Members of County Assembly for mismanaged of the county. She was luckily saved by the Senate, which found that none of the cases were directly linked to Madam Waiguru.

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko was also accused of corruption, in a case that saw him being barred from office. The cases in Nairobi saw most services in the county being transferred to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services, headed by General Mohammed Badi.

It will be interesting to see the turnout of events in Migori County, considering that Majority of the Members of County Assembly were elected under the Orange Democratic Party.

By Susan Mundalo

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