EACC Planning To Raid Migori Governor’s Obado Money Warehouse In Migori Where Sh5B Is Hidden In Cash

Migori Governor Okoth Obado is a man at the center of everything wrong in this country, the NASA rebellious governor is suspected to have played a central point in the most foul murder. Obado was charger with abetting and financing the murder of the university student.

Away from the heinous act of murder, the Governor is entangled in a series of corruption scandals at the South Nyanza county. Migori governor Okoth Obado is on the spot for the third week running after it emerged that detectives are pursuing what is believed to be suspicious transfers of county funds to his children abroad.

It has been established that asset recovery agencies have frozen the bank accounts of Obado’s wife, Hellen Adhiambo Odie, five businessmen and three companies believed to be proxies or associated with the county boss.

In documents filed in court, EACC says major Migori county suppliers who are alleged to be Obado’s proxies made huge international transfers to, among others, Obado’s children in Australia, Hong Kong and China.

The proxies known to each other registered many companies that have been awarded what EACC terms as “inflated and fictitious contracts”.

Over Sh2.5 billion has been paid out to the dubious companies over the last five years.

“The preliminary investigations have raised reasonable suspicion that the embezzled public funds have been used by the governor, his wife and the said close proxies, the respondents herein, to accumulate property and illicit wealth,” EACC said.

Those named as the governor’s associates who have benefited from the alleged fraudulent deals and whose accounts have been frozen include Jared Peter Odoyo Oluoch Kwaga, Ernest Omondi Owino and Joram Opala Otieno.

Others are Patroba Ochanda Otieno, Beatrice Akinyi Ogutu, Kennedy Odhiambo Akello and Kennedy Onyango Adongo.

Opala, Kwaga, and Ochanda are blood brothers.

In the 2015-2016 financial year, for instance, the companies owned by the suspects were awarded tenders worth Sh239.7 million.

EACC  has also obtained bank details and statements of over 30 additional bank accounts, motor vehicle ownership documents; Local Supply Orders of more than Sh200 million and payment vouchers of more than Sh45 million.

EACC is now demanding an explanation on the sources of the monies in the bank accounts and the land parcels.

“The EACC intends to file a suit for recovery of assets under section 55 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act after the investigations,” Judge Ong’udi said in granting the extension.

An affidavit by EACC investigator Pius Maithya described how Kwaga transferred huge sums of money from his Co-operative Bank accounts to several accounts in China and Hong Kong on August 21, 2014, October 23, 2015, November 18, 2015 and August 23, 2016.

Kwaga is among Migori suppliers whose properties were preserved pending completion of investigations.

Other accounts frozen are for Janto Construction Limited (Sh4,000,317), Marowa Stores (Sh1,711,134) and Mbigo Enterprises (Sh2,067,058).

Also frozen are the accounts of Hellen Obado at Equity Bank, Awendo branch, which has Sh784,451 and an account identified as Kuku Ni Pesa, Equity Bank, Migori Branch with Sh700,660.

Owino is a director of two firms under probe, Janto Construction and Mbigu Enterprises.

When EACC searched his accounts in August last year, Owino had a cool Sh5.3 million in the bank.

Detectives have also established that the contractors are surrogates and share cash paid by the Migori county government.

“There was a trend whereby, in each of these companies, upon receipt of funds from Migori county transferred monies to Jared Peter Odoyo Oluoch Kwaga who in-turn transferred to Earnest Omondi Owino and also Joram Opala,” EACC told the High Court.

Mbingo Enterprises Ltd has been paid more than Sh700 million for several contracts.

EACC says Mbingo Enterprises constructed Obado’s palatial home in Uriri constituency but could not find records indicating that the governor paid the contractor.

Privy sources to the case intimates to Kenya Insights that the body is is planning a major crackdown at the Governor’s residence in Migori where strong intelligence points at the fact he’s hiding huge amount of money that’s being hoarded in dollars kept away from public scrutiny and bank trails..