A FORMER politician faces spending the rest of his life behind bars after a judge found him guilty of orchestrating the horrific abduction and murder of his pregnant university mistress.
By flashnews.co.ke
PUBLISHED: 14:15, Thu, Jul 23, 2026 | UPDATED: 14:42, Thu, Jul 23, 2026
FORMER Migori Governor Zachary Okoth Obado has been convicted of the brutal 2018 murder of 26-year-old Rongo University student Sharon Otieno.
Inside a tense, packed courtroom at the Milimani High Court, High Court Judge Cecilia Githua delivered a scathing verdict that brought an end to an eight-year legal saga that gripped the nation.
The court ruled that the former two-term governor was the mastermind behind a deadly plot to silence his young lover after she fell pregnant with his child.
Ruling on the marathon trial, Justice Githua declared that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, stating that Obado supplied the “motive, the instigation, and the financial power” to execute the horrific crime.
Obado was convicted alongside his former personal assistant, Michael Oyamo, and former county clerk, Caspal Obiero.
“The prosecution has established a seamless chain of circumstantial evidence pointing to the accused persons. They acted in concert to orchestrate an elaborate plot to murder the deceased,” Justice Githua told the court during the four-hour judgment.
A Sordid Betrayal
The harrowing events unfolded on September 3, 2018, when Sharon Otieno—then seven months pregnant—was lured to a meeting outside the Graca Hotel in Migori County under the pretext of receiving financial assistance.
She never returned home.
Days later, her body was discovered dumped in a thicket at Owade. Investigators confirmed she had suffered multiple stab wounds, abduction, and sexual assault. DNA evidence later established with absolute certainty that Obado was the father of the unborn child.
Prior to the scandal, Obado, 69, was viewed as an untouchable political powerhouse. A former science teacher at St. Joseph’s Rapogi Secondary School who held a Master’s degree from Kenyatta University, Obado rose to political prominence after heading the Kenya Sugar Board in 2010.
By 2013, he shocked political observers by clinching the Migori governorship under the little-known People’s Democratic Party (PDP), later joining the ODM party to secure a second term before leaving office in 2022.
‘Power Does Not Shield You’
For years, the high-profile trial stood as a litmus test for the independence of the judiciary, prompting national debate over whether wealth and political connections could shield perpetrators from justice.
Sharon’s tragic death left a dark cloud over Obado’s political legacy, stripping away the public image he had cultivated alongside his wife, Hellen Obado, and their two adult children.
Obado, Oyamo, and Obiero now await formal sentencing, where they face up to life imprisonment.
Also Read: High Court Convicts Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado Over Sharon Otieno Murder