Ex-governor convicted of murdering a pregnant student in Kenya

What the report says

BBC Africa reports that former Migori county governor Okoth Obado has been convicted in Kenya of murdering Sharon Otieno, a 26-year-old university student who was pregnant and with whom he had been in a relationship. Otieno’s body was found in 2018 in a thicket near a town in western Kenya, and the case became one of the country’s most closely watched killings involving violence against women.

According to the BBC, Judge Cecilia Githua found Obado and two co-accused guilty on Thursday of arranging the killing. The judge said Obado drove the plot and provided the motive and financing, while his former personal assistant Michael Oyamo and former county clerk Caspal Obiero played roles in carrying it out and concealing it. The three were remanded in custody pending sentencing.

The BBC reports that the investigation was shaped in part by the account of journalist Barack Oduor of Nation Media Group, who said Otieno had contacted him about her affair with the then-governor. Oduor said he and Otieno were abducted after meeting, but he escaped; Otieno’s body was found two days later with stab wounds and indications she may have been raped. Prosecutors also pointed to vehicle-tracking evidence and the relationship between Obado and Otieno.

Obado denied involvement in 2018, and his lawyer told the BBC the affair was not disputed but involved no malice. The court rejected that defence. The BBC notes that Otieno’s killing triggered public anger and protests, and cited a national survey indicating that at least 34% of Kenyan women reported experiencing physical violence in 2022.