Obado's list of assets found in bedrooms

Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado. [Collins Kweyu, Standard]

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Tuesday disclosed how they recovered crucial documents inside the master bedroom of former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and that of his son Dan Achola related to Sh505.6 million graft cases.

The Commission through its investigating officer, Robert Ronoh, gave a detailed testimony of how they recovered various letters, bank statements, an inquiry report of Migori County Government stores, and a list of 22 multi-billion properties owned by Obado, his close relatives, and aide Jared Kwaga.

Ronoh revealed that the documents were recovered inside Obado’s master bedroom and that of  son Dan Achola’s master bedroom at their rural home in Uriri, Migori.

Others were also recovered in his sitting room at Green Gardens apartments in Lavington.

The officer took the court through almost 22 registered properties in the names of Obado, his close relatives, and his personal aide after detectives retrieved the list in the master bedroom of Obado’s son Achola.

“We also recovered from the master bedroom of Obado’s son at their  Uriri home a list of family property handwritten as of January 2, 2017.

‘‘The list was handed over to us on November 13, 2018, by  Abraham Okoth, an administration police constable guarding the property,” Ronoh informed the court.

In his evidence, the officer presented the whole list of assets including the Sh34.5 million Loresho house and three NSSF houses near State House Road renting at Sh3.5 million per month.

Other properties include Obado’s Karen residence in Nairobi, three-bedroom houses in Mbagathi, one flat apartment in Umoja, and one palatial home in Athi River in Machakos County under his wife’s name.

In Migori, Obado, his family, and his aide Kwaga own various properties including the ODM Orange House, a flat with 20 units, several acres of land including a 20-acre parcel of land in his son’s name, a 1.5-acre parcel of land and three bedroom houses in the name of his wife.

Further, the court heard that Obado has 13 acres of land under construction along Masala in Migori. According to the list, the court heard that Obado owns a petrol tanker and road show trailer registered under Kwaga. Additionally, Ronoh stated the list showed that two of Obado’s vehicles were registered to one Ben Owadi and the rest to Kwaga, his personal assistant. 

The anti-graft officer told Milimani magistrate Victor Wakumile that the recovered list of assets form the bulk in the Sh505 million corruption case against Obado, his four children, Kwaga, and his companies.

The officer also revealed that during the raids at Obado’s residences, they recovered assorted documents of ownership of the Loresho house which has since been sized by the government through the Assets Recovery Agency.

The court heard the EACC detectives recovered an original letter of purchase of the Loresho property.

According to the letter dated August 12, 2014, Obado’s aide is the purchaser of the Loresho property at Sh 34,525,000 from Kenya Power Pension Fund scheme.

Further, the court heard that EACC detectives also recovered from Obado’s bedroom, a Migori County Government inquiry report on the fire incident that occurred on September 24, 2017, at the county stores dated November 11, 2017.

Ronoh also revealed that they recovered a Cooperative Bank swift money transfer for Sh3,450,000 drawn in favour of the trustees of Kenya Power Star Benefit Scheme over the sale of Loresho property.

Further, the EACC detective  stated that according to a search conducted at  Obado’s Uriri office on November 13, 2018, they retrieved four bank statements

They are an eight-page document of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) statement of the period between December 1 and December 10, 2016, under the name Migori County Revenue Fund whose balance was at Sh610,702,882.

The second document is a sixty-three-page CBK statement of  Migori County development fund during the same period whose balance was  Sh 32,713,750.

“We also recovered a CBK statement of Migori County recurrent account of June 19, 2016, and December 19, 2016, whose opening balance shows was Sh23,948,487.60, and another  Kenya Commercial bank account of  Migori salary account for the period between October 1 and December 12, 2016 in Obado’s bedroom,” Rohon stated.

In Obado’s Green Gardens apartment in Lavington, EACC detectives recovered in the sitting room a Co-operative Bank receipt for a withdrawal of Sh750,000 and the available balance was Sh17, 199,357.

The court heard that the withdrawals of the funds were done by Kwaga.

In the Lavington house sitting room, Rohoh also said they recovered a bank statement documents regarding payment of his daughter’s (Susan Okoth) fees at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

The officer has since tendered vouchers and other payment schedules showing how 23 companies were paid billions of shillings for tenders awarded by the county.

The hearing resumes this morning.

Ronoh told the court said that the commission in 2017 received a complaint from an unnamed informant over misappropriation of funds amounting to Sh2.6 billion paid to 23 companies. However, the DPP has charged the county boss with embezzlement of Sh505 million.

In the case the governor, his children, and his co-accused face 26 charges ranging from conspiracy to commit economic crimes, conflict of interest, unlawful acquisition of public property, and money laundering.