Migori County Governor Okoth Obado has been granted Ksh8.75 million cash bail or Ksh20 million bond in Ksh73.4 million graft case.
In his ruling on Monday, Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi ordered that Obado be barred from accessing Migori County office until the case is concluded just like his counterparts Mike Sonko (Nairobi), Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu) and Moses Kasaine Lenolkulal (Samburu) facing similar charges.
The magistrate, however, directed that the governor be escorted to pick his belongings from the county offices.
The magistrate also granted Obado’s children, who are also facing graft charges, bail as follows: Achola Okoth (Ksh2.5million), Scarlet Susan Okoth (Ksh3million), Jerry Zachary Okoth and Everline Adhiambo Zachary Ksh2million each.
Other suspects in the case said to be Obado’s proxies were granted cash bail ranging from Ksh2 million to Ksh8.25 million.
The accused were ordered to deposit their passports in court.
Read: Governor Obado Surrenders To EACC Following Arrest Order
Obado was arrested alongside his four children on August 26 after surrendering to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) offices in Kisii for questioning over the alleged embezzlement of public funds.
The accused denied all the counts of graft at the Migori county government on Friday when they were arraigned.
While approving the arrest and prosecution of the suspects last week, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji said the county chief irregularly received the money through his children from companies trading with the county.
This, according to Haji, happened between 2013/14 and 2016/17 financial years.
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Investigations also showed that the companies belonged to persons closely related to Obado.
The companies are; Misoft Company Limited, Tarchdog Printers, Deltrack ICT services, Seletrack Consultants, Mactebac Contractors, Joyush Business, Swyfcon Engineering, Atinus Services, Kajulu business, Victorious Investment, Dolphins Softwares, Dankey Press and Pesulus Services.
The business proprietors are three brothers: Jared Peter Kwaga (Obado’s family friend), Patroba Ochanda and Joram Opala. The others were their mother Penina Auma Otago, Kwaga’s wife Christine Akinyi and Carolyne Onyango (Kwaga’s sister-in-law).
An audit trail showed that Ksh38.9 million was wired to his three children; Dan Okoth, Jerry Okoth, and Susan Okoth.
Read Also: EACC Seizes Ksh35 Million Loresho House Linked To Obado
This money was used to pay for their school fees and daily upkeep. Some was also used to purchase two Toyota Land Cruiser V8.
“The audit trail of the money revealed that companies wired Sh39 million to the governor’s children accounts which was used to pay school fees, upkeep and medical bills in Australia, Scotland and the UK, ” Haji said.
Some Ksh34.5 was used to purchase the Loresho Ridge property for his other daughter, Evelyne Adhiambo.
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