By Brian Kiprono - Reporter
Kenya, 15 May 2026 - Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado has walked away from a high-profile corruption case after a Nairobi anti-corruption court allowed prosecutors to withdraw charges linked to the alleged loss of KSh 73.5 million in county funds.
The decision, delivered on Friday by Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Okore, brings to an end a case that had dragged on for years and frequently placed Obado and his family in the national spotlight.
The withdrawal followed a deal in which assets worth about KSh235 million were surrendered to the government, more than three times the amount at the centre of the criminal case.
Among the forfeited properties were eight parcels of land and two Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles.
In court, Magistrate Okore ruled that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) acted within the law and did not abuse his powers by settling the matter through an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework.
“If an act is passed in compatibility with the Constitution and the laws thereunder, it cannot be deemed to have offended public interest,” the magistrate ruled.
The court also ordered the release of passports and refund of cash bail that had been deposited by Obado, his children and other accused persons during the trial.
The case stemmed from allegations that county funds were siphoned through questionable procurement deals during Obado’s tenure as Migori governor.
But even as the case officially closed, Obado used the moment to question why his family had been dragged into the prosecution.
Standing outside court alongside relatives, the former governor criticised investigators for charging his children in a matter he argued had nothing to do with them.
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“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.
He insisted his children were independent adults who should not have been linked to him simply because they are family members.
“If there are offences they have committed, they should be charged on their own,” he added.
Obado also claimed the prosecution was selective, arguing that county procurement and finance officials directly involved in transactions were never charged.
The ruling exposed divisions between the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), which had opposed settling the criminal matter through a negotiated agreement.
The EACC had initially sought to recover more than KSh 1.9 billion from Obado and over 20 other individuals accused of benefiting from irregular county tenders.
However, the court maintained that the asset recovery and plea agreement had already achieved the objectives prosecutors intended to pursue through the criminal trial.