When Migori Governor Okoth Obado asked for prayers because he was allegedly in a “crocodiles” mouth, he actually meant it. The embattled governor has made headlines for the past few months with questions rising on what the future holds for him.
Among the reasons that the governor has made headlines is because of alleged corruption at Migori County. The governor is accused of siphoning hundreds of millions from the county with the help of close friends and family with his children also being dragged into the corruption mess.
In order to get to the bottom of the corruption matter, detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) have today raided the homes of Governor Okoth Obado in Migori and Nairobi.
The detectives are reportedly searching for documents and material to aid in investigations on corruption allegations against the governor.
The Migori Governor, who is also facing charges of murdering a university student, is accused by the anti-graft body of siphoning Ksh.2 billion from the county coffers through companies registered by his relatives.
“The commission received credible information that a few persons well known to be proxies of the governor, registered several companies for the purpose of fraudulent acquisition of public funds through fictitious contracts,” says EACC in documents filed in court.
The EACC has narrowed down to 23 companies it believes Mr Obado used to win several tenders between 2013 and last year, tracing Sh2.3 billion to the suspected conduits.
Detectives have unearthed 32 companies, 77 pieces of land and other assets.
Obado is believed to have used the stolen cash to maintain a flashy lifestyle for himself and his family. Detectives say that through the procurement scam, Mr Obado was able to build a home worth Sh100 million in Uriri in Migori County and send at least Sh13 million to his children.
The EACC has been investigating procurement at Migori County since last September.
On September 24, just a day before Migori County secretary Christopher Rusana was to furnish the EACC with tender documents to assist with investigations, the building used as a document storage facility burnt down.
EACC now insists that the fire was an arson attack aimed at destroying evidence that would completed the Sh2.5 billion puzzle.
“It is suspected that the aforementioned was not an unfortunate fire incident but an arson attack calculated to subvert the efforts of the commission to get to the bottom of the allegation of theft of over Sh2.5 billion from Migori County,” EACC detective Catherine Ngari says in court papers.
Do you think Governor Okoth Obado will survive this onslaught?