DCI detectives are on high alert and have summoned a businessman and self-proclaimed silent investor in Migori to record a statement about an alleged murder-for-hire plot by his one-time business partner none other than Migori governor Okoth Obado.
In court papers by the EACC , the body paints a picture of Obado and and a man by the name of Kwaga as inseparable.
According to the EACC, Communications links analysis established that the governor is in constant communication with Jared Kwaga.
Kwaga is said to have previously expressed fears for his life, even claiming that unidentified people had been trailing him in unmarked cars.
Mr Jared Oluoch Kwaga was among the people believed to have been used by the governor to connive a fraudulent scheme to embezzle public funds and siphon Sh2 billion from the coffers of the county government, according to an affidavit filed in court by the anti-corruption watchdog.
Police detectives suspect the two have had a falling out on unclear reasons after they received an anonymous letter detailing a scheme by Obado and his associates to eliminate Jared Kwaga, who had close businesses dealings with Obado.
“Yes, we are investigating this issue and hope to conclude investigations soon,” Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti yesterday told the Star.
DCI officers are reported to have camped in Migori over the past weekend and interviewed several people. They are expected to interview both Kwaga and Obado.
However, spokesman Nicholas Anyuor yesterday told the Star the governor is not aware of such allegations.
“We have not been informed, the governor is also not aware. We hope this is not political propaganda to spoil the image of the governor. The governor has never wanted to kill anybody,” Anyuor said.
Kwaga confirmed the DCI had summoned him to shed light on a plot to murder him.
“DCI officers have summoned me to record a statement with them,” he told the Star.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has gone to court seeking various orders against Kwaga relating to millions of shillings that he allegedly wired to Obado’s children abroad.
Mr Obado, who is separately facing murder charges for the alleged killing of 26-year-old Rongo University student Sharon Otieno, 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 after Justice Ong’udi ordered EACC to increase the number of detectives probing the procurement allegations and complete investigations within a four-month window.
EACC successfully sought bank account freeze orders against Jared Oluoch Kwaga, Ernest Omondi Owino, Joram Opala Otieno, Patroba Ochanda Otieno, Beatrice Akinyi Ogutu, Kennedy Odhiambo Akello, Kennedy Onyango Adongo and Hellen Odhiambo Odie in November.
Mr Kwaga, Mr Ochanda and Mr Opala are brothers. Their mother Penina Auma has since been roped into the probe, as she is a director in a company they own — Kajulu Business.
The High Court issued orders barring Kwaga and his family from selling or transferring 65 properties —including maisonettes, apartments and land — together valued at more than Sh382 million.
Of the 65 properties the High Court placed a caveat on 42 that belong to Kwaga, excluding 17 he transferred after police raided his home early last year.
The properties include four maisonettes in Nairobi, an apartment in Nairobi and several tracts of land mostly in Migori town.
“The Commission has established that in just four days after it carried out search on the 1st defendant’s [Kwaga] residence, he transferred 17 parcels out of the 59 parcels registered in his name to the interested parties herein,” the EACC says.