Former Kenyan Governor Convicted of Murdering Pregnant University Student

NAIROBI, KENYA – A Kenyan court has convicted former Migori County Governor Okoth Obado of the 2018 murder of Sharon Otieno, a 26-year-old university student who was pregnant at the time of her death.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Cecilia Githua found that Obado orchestrated the plot to kill Ms. Otieno, with the court also convicting his former personal assistant, Michael Oyamo, and former Migori County Clerk, Caspal Obiero, for their roles in the crime.

According to the court, Obado provided the motive, instigation and financial support for the murder, while Oyamo facilitated its execution and Obiero provided logistical support and helped conceal the crime.

The three men have been remanded in custody and are awaiting sentencing.

Ms. Otieno's body was discovered in a thicket in western Kenya in September 2018, two days after she was abducted. She had suffered multiple stab wounds, and investigators said she was pregnant following what prosecutors described as an intimate relationship with Obado.

The case attracted nationwide attention after journalist Barack Oduor, who had accompanied Ms. Otieno before the abduction, escaped from the kidnappers' vehicle and later provided investigators with a key eyewitness account that helped advance the investigation.

Prosecutors argued that Obado was unhappy about the pregnancy and relied on circumstantial evidence, supported by testimony from 42 witnesses, to prove that he and his co-accused conspired to arrange the killing.

The murder sparked widespread outrage across Kenya and renewed calls for stronger action to combat violence against women. According to a 2022 national survey, at least 34 percent of women in Kenya reported experiencing physical violence.

Lawyers representing Ms. Otieno's family welcomed the verdict, saying justice had finally been served after nearly eight years.