'Sharon was pregnant with my child but I had no reason to eliminate her'

In April 2025, former Migori Governor Obado stood up, took the oath, and gave his sworn defence before Justice Cecilia Githua at the Milimani High Court.

For the first time since Sharon Otieno’s murder in September 2018, the man the prosecution had labelled the mastermind of her killing would tell his side of the story,in full, under oath, and in his own words.

What followed over three days of testimony was extraordinary: a former governor admitting to an extramarital affair with a university student, a story of a love affair that began too fast, acknowledging he was responsible for her pregnancy, detailing the financial support he provided, describing the drama when his wife found out, and denying any involvement in her death in a forest with his child inside her.

Obado told the court the relationship began at an Interpol conference in Nairobi, where he and Sharon met for the first time. It was a brief encounter, they exchanged contacts and parted ways.

“We first met at an Interpol meeting in Nairobi. After the meeting, we exchanged contacts,” Obado told the court.

Within three days, however, they had reconnected. Obado said he was travelling to Kakamega for another conference and the two agreed to meet in Kisumu.

“After that first meeting, we started communicating frequently. I told her I was traveling to Kakamega for another meeting, and we met again in Kisumu… and in Kisumu, the conversation between us became more and more. One thing led to another,” he recounted.

This was November 2017. By late February to early March 2018, Obado testified, he had begun to develop what he called ‘cold feet’, not because of the pregnancy, he insisted, but because of a series of startling inconsistencies he had discovered about Sharon.

She had claimed to have a stationery business, he found out no such business existed. She claimed to have another business, again, it was fictional. Most shockingly, she had told him she had one child, but he discovered she actually had three, all from different fathers.

“She told me she had one child. I later discovered she had three, all from different men,” Obado told justice Githua.

Then, in January 2018, came what Obado called the biggest inconsistency of all. Sharon sent him ultrasound images, telling him she was pregnant with his child.

“Later, she told me she wasn’t pregnant, that she just wanted to see my reaction. That was a very big inconsistency,” Obado testified.

The relationship, he said, was over by March 2018. Then Sharon told him she was pregnant again, this time, for real.

“My lady, I had my misgivings. I told myself it could not be me. Possibly, it could be someone else,”said Obado on the pregnancy.

He said that even after ending the romantic relationship in February to March 2018, he continued sending Sharon money for her general upkeep and welfare, including to support the pregnancy.  

Central to Obado’s defence is the issue of the housing demands and his counter-proposal not to share their affair with the media. Sharon, he testified, had asked for houses worth Sh20 million, one in Nairobi and one in Kisumu.

She conveyed these demands through the late former Kanyandoto MCA Lawrence Mula and XYZ during a meeting at Obado’s home in Rapogi. Obado’s wife, Hellen Adhiambo, was present at that meeting.

According to Obado he says that it is true Sharon had approached the other media people apart from XYZ and shared details of their affair.

“My lady, the proposal for a house in Nairobi or Kisumu was discussed, but I discouraged it. I told Mula it would be better for her to have a house in Homa Bay. I proposed buying land and building a three-bedroom house worth Sh3 million,” Obado told the court.

Sharon had suggested a 50x100 plot in Homa Bay town. Obado preferred a more rural location because of cost.He testified that an agreement was reached: he would purchase land and build a three-bedroom house.

“After the meeting I gave them(Mula and XYZ) Sh30,000, Sh10,000 for a taxi and then share the Sh20, 000,” Obado told the judge.

Sharon, according to MCA Mula’s own evidence in court, had accepted this proposal and told Mula that if the Governor built her a good house and furnished it, she would withdraw her intention of involving the media.

The court heard that Obado had promised to provide money to buy a plot at the end of August and Sh3 million for construction, and that on one occasion after agreeing to the deal, Obado gave Mula Sh100,000, with Sh50,000 for Mula himself and the rest for Sharon.  

The text message dated August 17, 2018, tendered by Obado himself as a defence exhibit, shows Sharon acknowledging receipt of Sh100,000.

The message read: “Thank you, I have received the Sh100,000 you sent me. We will arrange how to pay the house tomorrow.”

Obado told the court that this message was proof that on the last occasion Sharon communicated with him, just 16 days before her death, everything between them was proceeding normally, with a housing deal still in progress.

He argues this demolishes any suggestion he had a motive to kill her.

“I feel very sad that Sharon had to die. She did not deserve that. I feel sorry for her parents, her children, and her relatives. And honestly, I also feel very sad that this incident has tainted my name,” he said.

Then, in his final words to Justice Githua, he did not equivocate.

“I did not kill Sharon Otieno. I did not conspire to kill Sharon,” he said. He asked the court to find that the prosecution had failed to discharge its burden.

His final appeal to the bench was clear: “I urge this court to acquit me of the murder charges.”

Whether Justice Githua agrees will determine the fate of one of Kenya’s most talked-about murder cases, and whether Sharon’s family will ever see anyone held accountable for what happened in that forest on the night of September 3, 2018.