The Milimani Anti-Corruption Court has approved a plea agreement that saw former Migori Okoth Obado and several co-accused persons walk free in a long-running Sh73.5 million corruption case.
The court permitted the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to withdraw the charges after Obado and his co-accused agreed to hand over assets valued at Sh235 million to the State.
Investigators accused Obado and his children and close associates of irregularly acquiring and transferring public funds from Migori County through companies linked to them when he was governor.
Senior Principal Magistrate Celesa Okore said the plea bargain met the legal threshold and was not an abuse of prosecutorial powers by the DPP. The magistrate also dismissed objections by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), saying the anti-graft body was part of the discussions that led to the agreement.
As part of the settlement, Obado and the other suspects will forfeit properties and vehicles connected to the investigations. The court also directed the authorities to return their passports and refund the cash bail deposited by them during the trial.
The corruption case went on for years in court and drew national attention as one of Kenya’s high-profile county graft investigations.
Even with the ruling, Kenyans continue to debate the use of plea bargain agreements in major corruption cases. Backers say such deals help the government recover public funds more quickly, while critics say they let powerful people off the hook from full criminal accountability.
The ruling closes one of the biggest corruption cases linked to the former Migori governor. But Okoth Obado has other legal battles to fight from his time in office.
