When Migori Governor Okoth Obado was presented in front of Justice Jessie Lesiit for the hearing of his murder case, the governor was seen as a finished man. This was because of Justice Jessie Lesiit’s past records in relation to hearing murder charges.
Obado was in front of Justice Lesiit just a few months after she sentenced to death the now famous Ruth Kamande better known as Miss Langata. Miss Kamande was charged with murder. Se stabbed her boyfriend 25 times, an action that Justice Lesiit viewed as gruesome hence her death sentence.
During the initial Stages of Governor Obado’s case, Justice Lesiit was seen as a no-nonsense woman. It was seen as if she was too rigid to grant governor Obado bail until she later granted the governor his freedom on the 24th of October, 2018. Obado was released on Sh5million cash bail and was also ordered to provide two sureties of the same amount.
The decision to grant Obado was welcomed by his supporters and especially the people of Migori. A section of Kenyans though did not find joy in the governor’s release with many criticizing the High Court for granting him bail.
It has now been revealed that among the people that were not happy with Governor Obado’s release on bail include Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji.
According to Haji, the bail terms granted to Obado in his murder case were “wanting”
Haji has expressed his displeasure over the manner in which the courts have been handling cases against high-profile individuals.
Mr. Haji has wondered why the courts are allowing State officers to go back to their offices despite being indicted for serious offences, adding that as a country “we must have standards.”
Governor Okoth Obado has since resumed office and is performing his roles as the Migori County Chief.
“I am actually concerned on this, we have taken cases to court, we have charged individuals be it governors or constitutional office holders or the Deputy Chief Justice (DCJ) herself. My concern is this. Most of them still remain in office. And the sad thing is that we still have orders to allow them to enjoy whatever it is and these orders are coming from the courts,” said the DPP.
“Some of the bail terms for example in a particular murder case to do with the governor are wanting. You saw him making presentations before development partners and this is somebody facing a murder charge, investigations on corruption… this is somebody who was found with unexplained guns in his premises.”
“We must have standards and those standards need to be applied across board and the courts need to help us.” added the DPP
Haji has now called on Judicial officers to be more diligent in their job especially when dealing with high profile criminals such as political leaders.
Do you think that DPP Noordin Haji was in order to question Governor Obado’s bail terms?