OBADO AND TWO AIDES CONVICTED IN SHARON OTIENO MURDER, ENDING YEARS LONG QUEST FOR JUSTICE

Nearly eight years after the brutal killing of 26 year old Sharon Otieno shocked the nation, the High Court has found former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his aides, Michael Oyamo and Caspal Obiero, guilty of her murder.

In a detailed judgment delivered Thursday, July 23, Justice Roselyn Githua concluded that the prosecution had established an unbroken chain of circumstantial evidence showing the three men jointly participated in the plot that led to Sharon’s abduction and death.

Sharon, a Rongo University student who was seven months pregnant, disappeared after a meeting arranged at Graca Hotel in Rongo. She had been lured there under the pretext of receiving money from Obado. Journalist Barrack Oduor, who was abducted alongside her, survived by leaping from a moving vehicle. Sharon’s body was later found in a thicket near Kodera Forest, bearing multiple stab wounds.

The court found that Obado had a compelling motive: preventing details of his relationship with Sharon—and her pregnancy—from becoming public. Justice Githua noted that Obado stood to suffer “reputational damage and political embarrassment” if the affair was exposed.

Oyamo was found to have coordinated the meeting that led to Sharon’s abduction and to have fraudulently obtained an Airtel SIM card used exclusively to communicate with her. Obiero’s role was similarly established through witness testimony tying him to the events of the abduction.

The ruling closes one of Kenya’s most closely watched criminal trials, marking a significant moment for Sharon’s family and for public confidence in the justice system. Sentencing will follow.