Obado murder trial resumes this morning

The murder trial of Former Migori Governor Zachary Okoth Obado resumes today after it failed to proceed on Monday.

The matter had been set for hearing before High Court judge Justice Cecilia Githua but it could not proceed following an application for adjournment by the prosecution.

A senior state prosecutor told the court that the prosecution wanted more time until today to go through the data documents they were supplied by Safaricom and Airtel. She said that the documents are 500 pages.

So far 38 witnesses have testified so far.

The last time the matter was in court, a taxi driver who allegedly ferried the late Sharon Otieno to Kodera Forest where she met her death confessed to doubting the veracity of his evidence before court.
Jackson Gombe told the court that if he was the Trial Judge, he would not believe the account of his testimony regarding what transpired on the night of September 3, 2018.

This revelation came out when Defence Counsel Elisha Ongoya was cross-examining him on his evidence before the court and two witness statements he wrote regarding the murder incident.

For the period Gombe was on the stand, he was put to task to explain the inconsistencies in his evidence.
Defence Counsel led by Kioko Kilukumi and Rogers Sagana have claimed that Gombe’s evidence before the court is a prosecution theory imposed on him to implicate former Migori Governor Okoth Obado.

“You are a planted witness and have no idea what happened on that day. You did not participate at all in any events of September 3, 2018,” Sagana said.

In the case, former Migori Governor Okoth Obado, his assistant Michael Oyamo and clerk Caspal Obiero are being tried over the murder of Sharon and her unborn baby on September 3, 2018, in Homa Bay.
Still, at the High Court, the murder trial of late Kabete MP George Muchai proceeds today for hearing.
Justice Kanyi Kimondo will proceed with the matter following the retirement of Justice Justus Bwonwong’a.

The Judge said the case is an old matter and it would be an injustice to the accused persons, victims and prosecution if it started afresh.

Thirty five witnesses have already testified. The court is remaining with two more.

However, the court will be recalling six witnesses who had already given their testimony in the case.
Among them is pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor, a witness from Safaricom who will be producing the call data, and another who dealt with the CCTV footage of where the murder incident took place. The case will be on from December 4 to 7.