Former Migori governor Okoth Obado and the anti-graft body have reached a compromise in a deal that will see him confiscate two high-end cars, a house in Loricho and other properties worth Sh235 million.
In an approval recorded before Supreme Court Justice Esther Maina, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission dropped the unexplained wealth related cases against Mr. Obado and his children among others.
For his part, Mr. Obado confiscated two Land Cruiser cars, seized in 2020, a house in Loricho area of Nairobi, two apartments in Greenspan area of Nairobi, a small apartment in the same area, and a two-storey building in Sona East.
Mr Obado will also lose a commercial building known as Sunrise Center in Sona East worth Sh88 million, a five-storey residential building also in Sona East worth Sh57.6 million and another property in Kamagambo worth Sh10 million.
“Now, the defendants have offered to surrender and the Commission has accepted the receipt of 8 properties and 2 vehicles, as specifically set out below at the current market value of Sh235,600,000 to be disposed of by public auction in full and final settlement,” the approval signed on June 4, 2024 states.
The EACC initially targeted over Sh2 billion allegedly smuggled from the Migori County government and wanted the court to rule whether it constituted unexplained wealth in accordance with Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
The anti-graft body has filed two cases, one seeking the confiscation of unexplained assets worth Sh1.9 billion, and another petition seeking the recovery of assets worth Sh73.4 million, as proceeds of corruption.
The anti-graft body said it sought an out-of-court settlement because it was unable to trace relevant documents after a fire damaged county warehouses in September 2017, destroying evidence.
In the first case, EACC obtained orders to stop the sale or transfer of ownership of 69 plots of land and two cars.
The commission alleged that Mr. Obado registered several companies for the sole purpose of fraudulently acquiring public funds through fictitious contracts.
The approval added: “While the Commission inferred verifiable works and projects from the documents submitted by the defendants, it conducted a verification process of the said works and demonstrated that some of the works had been completed satisfactorily.”
Court filings filed by EACC said investigations revealed that the contractors were working in concert with county officials, who held influential positions and used them to embezzle public funds through bogus procurement contracts.
Some of his family members also registered companies that they allegedly used to extract money from Migori through contracts between 2013 and 2017.
Investigations reveal that the companies were paid to provide fictitious services as they were established after receiving large sums of money from the provincial government since early 2014.
The house in Nairobi's Loricho area, valued at Sh40 million, is allegedly registered in the name of Jared Peter Kwaja.
The EACC alleged that he was awarded multi-million dollar contracts for several companies linked to Mr. Kwaja by the Migori County Government.
Other close members associated with Mr. Obado and Kwaja include his two brothers Batruba Ochanda and Joram Opala, his mother Penina Otago and Christine Akinyi (wife) and his sister-in-law Caroline Onyango.
Of the money paid to the companies, about Sh34.5 million was spent on purchasing the house in Lorisho, the documents stated.
The agency said Kwaja transferred the money paid to him to his personal account at the Cooperative Bank and later deposited it into the accounts of Obado’s children who were studying abroad.
“Further analysis of the defendants’ bank statements showed that the governor benefited to the tune of Sh38,949,376.90 through money sent to his children – Dan Ashola Okoth, Jerry Zachary Okoth and Scarit Susan Okoth,” the EACC said in court documents.
The EACC said it sought mutual legal assistance through the Attorney-General's Office of Scotland, the United Kingdom and Australia, and discovered that three companies, trading with Migori County, had sent the money to Obado's children, who were then studying abroad.
Later, Dan Ashola Okoth bought two Land Cruisers.
Mr. Kwaja's five relatives, Mr. Obado and his five children – Dan and Susan Scarlett Akoth, Jerry and Evelyn Zachary, were charged with conspiracy to commit economic crimes and money laundering. The case is still ongoing and they are out on bail.
