Obado firearms case;Governor released on bail

The Court has freed Migori Governor Okoth Obado on a Kshs 500,000 bond and surety of a similar amount or cash bail of Kshs 200,000. Governor Obado was arrested on Wednesday and spent two nights in custody after an EACC raid unearthed eight guns at his homes in Migori and Nairobi. Documents that EACC believe could aid in the ongoing investigation of the misappropriation of County funds were also obtained during the search operation. The Governor was recently released on bail in the case of the murder of the late Sharon Otieno after spending time in remand.

Obado was arraigned at the Kibra Law Courts on Friday where Chief Magistrate Joyce Gandani ruled that the Governor is not a flight risk and will appear for trial if need be, contrary to the prosecution’s argument, “And he is not likely to tamper with the evidence or witnesses,” she said. The prosecution led by Catherine Mwaniki wanted Obado to be detained for 15 days to allow them to run conclusive investigations in a bid to refer among other charges; possible firearms without valid certificates and possession of ammunition charges. Mwaniki had argued that the Governor had failed to explain how the guns recovered from his homes came to be in his possession. However, Obado had denied any knowledge of the unlicensed guns recovered during the raid.