Former Migori governor Zachary Okoth Obado is staring at a death sentence, life imprisonment or a long jail term after being found guilty of murdering his lover, university student Sharon Otieno, seven years ago.
The law provides for a death sentence for anyone found guilty of murder. However, following a Supreme Court decision in 2017, popularly known as the Muruatetu decision, courts have been handing convicts varying sentences after considering mitigation and aggravating factors.
High Court Judge Cecilia Githua found that Obado orchestrated the murder of Sharon to prevent her from going public about their illicit affair, and that she was pregnant with his child.
Also found guilty of murder were Obado’s former personal assistant Michael Oyamo and former Migori County clerical officer Caspal Obiero.
The court said the three acted in concert with others not before court, in the murder of the 26-year-old Rongo University student, who was in September 2018 abducted, raped and killed while 28 weeks pregnant.
The judge said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the three acted together to eliminate Sharon after she threatened to make public her relationship with Obado and the pregnancy.
“I am satisfied that the circumstances form a chain so complete that there is no escape that the accused persons jointly with others not before court committed the offence. The evidence irresistibly points to the fact that the accused persons, with malice aforethought, unlawfully caused the death of Sharon,” Justice Githua said.
“It is therefore my finding that the prosecution has proved its case against the first, the second and the third accused persons beyond reasonable doubt,” she added.
Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on July 23, 2026, during the delivery of judgment in the Sharon Otieno murder case. Lady Justice Cecilia Githua found Obado, and his former aides Michael Oyamo and Caspal Obiero, guilty of the 2018 murder.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
Clad in a black suit, white shirt and a navy-blue tie, Obado sat pensively in the dock staring at his mobile phone. He had driven to the Milimani Law Courts in a Toyota Lexus and was received by his supporters with applause, as some called him “Baba”.
Following the guilty verdict, one of his supporters shot up from the public gallery shouting “Obado atanyongwa” (Obado will be hanged). He was eventually escorted out of the courtroom by orderlies.
The verdict brings to an end a trial that stretched for nearly seven years, delayed by 16 applications, the transfer of the trial judge after hearing 25 witnesses and a one-year hiatus before Chief Justice Martha Koome directed that the case proceed.
The court found that Sharon’s pregnancy provided the motive for the killing. It rejected Obado’s claim that he had accepted the pregnancy and continued supporting Sharon financially.
Justice Githua found that although the former county boss admitted learning of the pregnancy in March 2018, he became evasive, withdrew financial support and sought to prevent the affair from becoming public.
“It cannot be a coincidence that he developed concern when publications emerged. Obado clearly wanted to contain it from the scope it had reached,” the judge observed.
Lady Justice Cecilia Githua during the delivery of judgment in the Sharon Otieno murder case at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on July 23, 2026. Justice Githua found former Migori Governor Zachary Okoth Obado and his former aides, Michael Oyamo and Caspal Obiero, guilty of the 2018 murder.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation Media Group
The judge found that Sharon had repeatedly demanded that Obado publicly acknowledge the pregnancy and provide her with a house, a car and employment, failing which she would expose their relationship.
Evidence from Sharon’s close friend, identified as Lawrence Mula, showed that Obado had urged Sharon to terminate the pregnancy, giving her Sh30,000 for an abortion and directing her to deal with Oyamo on all matters relating to the pregnancy.
The witness also testified that Sharon played him audio recordings of conversations with Obado in which he pleaded with her not to publish their photographs on social media and repeatedly urged her to procure an abortion because “time was running out”.
Discovery of Sharon's body
Mula testified that he attempted to mediate between the two. According to the evidence, Obado promised to buy Sharon land and build her a house if she abandoned plans to expose the affair.
Justice Githua, however, found the promises were merely a scheme to buy time.
“I am persuaded to agree with the prosecution that the money given to Sharon through XYZ and Oyamo was not genuinely intended for her well-being but to manage or make Sharon abandon her bid to make the relationship public, as they devised a scheme to eliminate her,” she said.
During the trial, the prosecution reconstructed Sharon’s final hours on September 3, 2018.
The late Sharon Otieno. Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and two co-accused have been convicted of murdering the university student.
Photo credit: Pool
She travelled to Nairobi after Oyamo arranged transport and facilitated the transfer of Sh22,000 through a hotel receptionist to enable her and a journalist identified only as XYZ to fly from Kisumu.
The pair later met Oyamo at Graca Hotel before boarding a taxi, driven by Jackson Otieno Gombe. At some point during the journey, two unidentified men boarded the vehicle and sandwiched Sharon and the journalist in the back seat.
The men interrogated Sharon about her relationship with Obado before ordering both victims to switch off their mobile phones.
As the vehicle was driven towards Homa Bay, one of the attackers began strangling the journalist, prompting him to jump from the moving vehicle and flee into a nearby homestead.
The homeowner, Kennedy Kasera, testified that XYZ stormed into his house and hid under the bed. He said he was bleeding, trembling and reported that he and Sharon had been abducted. He took him to Kadera Kwoyo police station, where he reported the incident before he was taken to hospital.
The following day around 3pm, Sharon’s naked body was discovered in a forest in Homa Bay County by a herdsman. She had been raped and stabbed seven times.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor told the court the stab wounds penetrated her uterus, killing the 28-week-old foetus. He concluded that Sharon died from severe haemorrhage and manual strangulation.
In her judgement, Justice Githua found that although none of the 42 prosecution witnesses witnessed the actual killing, the circumstantial evidence pointed to the guilt of the three accused.
“The evidence firmly established a chain so complete that it is incapable of any other hypothesis other than the guilt of the accused persons,” she said.
In analysing the role of each accused, the judge found that Obado supplied the motive, instigation and financial resources for the murder. As governor, the judge said, he enlisted the services of trusted aide Oyamo to coordinate communications with Sharon and later facilitate the execution of the elimination plan.
Evidence showed Oyamo acted as the intermediary throughout, conveying money, messages and arranging meetings. The court noted that shortly before the murder, Oyamo acquired an Airtel line registered using a stolen identity card, which the court found was intended to conceal his identity while communicating with Sharon and other witnesses.
Justice Githua also rejected Oyamo’s claim that he merely delivered money before leaving Graca Hotel, where he met Sharon and XYZ. The court noted that XYZ and Gombe placed him at the scene when Sharon was handed over to her attackers.
“I strongly take the view that the meeting at Graca Hotel was not to convey a message from Obado to Sharon and XYZ but to hand over the two to Sharon’s killers,” the judge said.
The judge further found that Obiero actively participated in the cover-up by introducing Oyamo to a clinical officer who fabricated a medical report to support a false claim that Oyamo had been abducted on the fateful day.
She also cited evidence that a vehicle tracking device was deliberately disabled on the day Sharon was abducted, describing it as further evidence of preparation and concealment.
In the end, Justice Githua concluded that each accused played a distinct but complementary role in the murder.
“The first accused supplied motive, instigation and funds to finance the criminal activities. The second accused facilitated execution, while the third accused assured logistical support and concealment to avoid detection of the offence,” she said.
The court cancelled their bond after convicting them. They will head to prison awaiting a victim impact report to be presented to court on August 18.
