Witness: Sharon wanted Ksh25m house from Obado

A prosecution witness yesterday narrated how the late Rongo University student Sharon Otieno demanded a Sh25 million house and another Sh5 million for upkeep from Migori governor Okoth Obado.

Former Homa Bay county MCA Lawrence Mule who was testifying in the murder case against Obado revealed that the deceased desired to live a glamorous life after getting pregnant for the former governor.

Mule who was testifying in the murder case involving Obado, his personal assistant Michael Oyamo and Casper Obiero, a clerk at Migori County, narrated how Sharon wanted to be recognised as the governor’s wife as she was carrying his child.

The court heard that the late Sharon also wanted a good car befitting a governor’s wife.
He narrated how he met Sharon at a hotel in Homa Bay in July 2018 while he was having tea.

“I was taking my tea, when a lady came to my table and introduced herself as Sharon… She wanted some assistance from me saying she knew me as an MCA. She told me she was a little sick and she requested for Sh5,000 from me… I told her I could not manage that amount of money but I would get her something the next day… From my assessment, she looked six months pregnant,” Mule told the court.

Mule told further said that he met Sharon the next day and gave her Sh1,500. Sharon after receiving the money asked him if he knew any journalist to which he responded that he knew many scribes.

He gave Sharon contacts of one journalist who is a key witness under protective custody.
She reached out to the journalist and they agreed to meet at a later date with the MCA present.
When they met, Sharon revealed that she was pregnant for Obado and the former Governor had dumped her.

While the meeting was going on, the journalist received a call allegedly from Obado and stepped outside where they talked for over half an hour.

When he was done with the call, the journalist called the MCA aside and informed him that the governor requested him to go to his home in Rapogi in the evening to discuss the matter. “He requested that I accompany him. I told him to confirm if the meeting was genuine… If it was genuine I would go… He later told me he believed the meeting was genuine because the governor got his number from MP John Mbadi who was a friend to him as a journalist,” Justice Cecilia Githua heard.

The court further heard that the journalist did not inform Sharon that he had talked to Obado.

The two went to Obado’s home where they waited for him for 30 minutes. They were taken to a boardroom where they introduced themselves formally and the journalist told Obado that Sharon approached him and shared their WhatsApp messages and chats.

“The governor asked the journalist to show him the messages, he admitted that the messages were his but he did not understand why the lady was spreading the messages,” Mule told the court.

Mule told the court that the journalist insisted that Obado fulfils certain demands or else he would go public regarding his affair with Sharon.

“The lady wanted the governor to buy her a house in Nairobi or Kisumu and give her money…that’s where the two were not agreeing…The governor was saying the demands were too high. My suggestion was to make the two calm down and settle the main problem which was Sharon’s welfare,” Mule told the court.
“After a long discussion the governor requested me to control the matter for him because he felt I was more mature…. I understood family matters than them and I told him I will try and I told him I know the journalist more than Sharon whom I don’t know if she will understand me,” Mule added.

After the meeting Obado asked his wife to assist him with Sh100,000, promising to return it the following day. But the wife gave him only Sh30,000.

“The cash was given to the journalist and we left,” Mule told the court.
What followed after this was a series of meetings between Obado, his personal assistant Michael Oyamo and the MCA.

The meetings would take place in Nairobi and the governor would cater for Mule’s transport and accommodation.

“We met at Sarova hotel… where I took my breakfast and we talked because he was rushing to another meeting. Sharon Otieno told me she wanted a rented house, a good car as a governor’s wife and upkeep of Sh5 million… I told her that I will tell the governor but she should come down…. She still maintained that she wanted Sh20-Sh25 million for the house, a car and money for upkeep,” he testified.

“I relayed the same message to the governor who was not amused by the high demands so he came up with a good suggestion that he looks for a plot to build her a house costing Sh3-Sh4 million shillings…Sharon said she’s okay if a good house can be built and furnished properly…. I met the governor the following morning and told him that she had agreed to the idea.” narrated Mule.

She was to receive the money at the end of August 2018 but before that money was sent, she demanded Sh200,000. She said it was money for the clinic and upkeep.

Mule told the court that Sharon told her that she attended clinic at Nairobi Hospital and that she can’t go to a cheap hospital.

“I tried to convince her to go to a hospital in the County but she said she can’t go to a cheap hospital …She told me ‘Mheshimiwa, remember I’m governor’s wife and I’m carrying the governor’s child,” the court heard.

According to the witness Sharon had indicated that she normally travels to Nairobi by air not road.
He called Obado and informed him what Sharon wanted.

Obado, though hesitant, still agreed to send her the money. The money was delivered by Oyamo three days later.

The witness who is the prosecution’s twenty eighth witness further said that “at some point, Sharon told me that she will handle everything herself”.