Obado questions inclusion of family in dropped graft case

Former Migori governor Okoth Obado alongside family at Milimani anti-corruption court, Nairobi on May 15 /LEAH MUKANGAI

Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado has faulted the inclusion of his family members in his Sh73.5 million graft case that was recently withdrawn.

Speaking shortly after the court formally withdrew the corruption case, the ex-governor claimed that he and his relatives were unfairly targeted despite not being directly involved in county procurement processes.

Obado criticised the manner in which the charges had been framed, particularly the inclusion of his children in allegations of conspiracy and money laundering.

“My elementary knowledge about conspiracy and money laundering is that if it’s conspiracy to defraud county government, you don’t expect me and my family, people who are not signatories to procurement processes or any of the accounts, to conspire within my house,” Obado said.

The former governor insisted that his children, whom he described as adults under the law, should not have been tied to the charges against him merely because they were family members.

“They (children) are grown up, under the law. If there are offences they have committed, they should be charged on their own. You can’t say if you commit an offence, your parents are charged,” he said.

Obado dismissed the accusations as baseless, claiming the case had been driven by malice rather than facts.

“The offences are fake, and I’m not afraid to say so,” he stated.

The former county boss also questioned the logic behind the conspiracy charges, arguing that key county officials who directly handled procurement and financial transactions were not charged alongside him.

“How do you conspire to defraud a county without bringing forth the procurement officers, finance guys who participated in it?” he asked.

“How do you conspire with a contractor when you are not party to any of those processes?”

His remarks came shortly after the court adopted a plea agreement and ordered the withdrawal of all charges against him and his co-accused persons under the Criminal Procedure Code.

In its ruling, the court held that the plea agreement had met the legal threshold required under the law and satisfied constitutional tests relating to public interest, administration of justice, and prevention of abuse of legal process.

The court also noted that civil forfeiture proceedings linked to the matter had already resulted in the surrender of properties valued at about Sh235 million and two motor vehicles, factors which influenced the eventual plea negotiations.

However, Obado maintained that despite the legal conclusion of the matter, he remained dissatisfied with how the case had been conducted.

“I’m not happy about that. I consider it to be malice,” he said.

The former governor suggested that there were individuals seeking to “regionalise” the fight against corruption.