and his four children have been freed on Ksh. 18.25 million cash bail. This is after they denied Ksh 73million fraud charges.
Okoth Obado and his children were also ordered to deposit their passports in court.
The chief magistrate Lawrence Mugambi earlier today in his ruling ordered that Obado be barred from accessing Migori county offices. Until the case is concluded.
Mugambi announced that the similar conditions applied to former Governor Waititu shall also apply to Obado on access to his office.
The court also ruled that their liberty will be upheld as each case must be considered on it’s own.
Bail terms
The individual bail terms of Obado and his children are as follows as they were all released in various bail amounts;
- Governor Okoth Obado Ksh. 8.75million.
- Ocholla Okoth Ksh. 2.5million.
- Scarlet Susan Okoth Ksh. 3million.
- Jerry Zachary Okoth Ksh. 2million.
- Everyone Adhiambo Zachary Ksh. 2million.
Obado and his children had spent the weekend in court custody. On Friday, Obado and seven others were arraigned in court to answer charges of graft over a loss is Ksh. 73.4 million.
But the accused all denied the charges and conspiracy to commit an economic crime which was the unlawful acquisition of funds.
The Migori governor was also charged with eight counts of conflict of interest. And he and his son Dan were jointly charged with money laundering.
The prosecution had also objected to the release of Obado and the rest noting that they were likely to abscond court. But lawyer Kioko Kilikumi argued that the offenses are bailable. And nothing shows that the accused will abscond court.
The prosecution also argued that the governor has a pending murder case and should not be granted bail.
The governor is not expected to travel outside the country or interfere with witnesses.
Bail terms of the other co-accused were as follows:
- Patroba Otieno Ksh. 6million.
- Joram Otieno Ksh. 5.5million.
- Caroline Ocholla Ksh. 2million.
- Jared Odoyo Ksh.8.25 million.
- Christine Ocholla Ksh. 3million.
- Penina Auma Ksh. 2million.
By Wanjiru Mbaru.