Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado’s Personal Assistant (PA), Michael Oyamo, told the Milimani High Court that the late Sharon Otieno had received threatening messages before her tragic death. Testifying during the third day of the murder case defence hearing, Oyamo supported earlier evidence presented in court that indicated Sharon was subjected to real threats prior to her killing.
According to Oyamo, these threatening messages were retrieved from Sharon’s tablet and had been introduced in court by a previous prosecution witness. He confirmed their authenticity and emphasized that the threats were serious. Some of the messages, read aloud in court, warned Sharon to stay away from a married man. One of the texts chillingly warned, “Please leave my husband alone, I can do you the worst, you will not walk away with it.” Another message ominously stated that “unbelievable will be the order of the day” if she did not stop her association with the unnamed man. In her response, Sharon denied being involved with anyone’s husband.
Oyamo used his time on the witness stand to strongly deny any involvement in Sharon’s murder. He stated clearly and emotionally that he did not kill Sharon, nor did he conspire with anyone to harm her. “I did not collude with anyone with the intention of harming or killing the late Sharon Otieno, and I did not also do that on my own,” he told the court.
In his testimony, Oyamo also recounted an ordeal he said he experienced at the hands of the police. He claimed that after being taken from the Uriri police station, he was driven to Kisumu, where he was locked in a vehicle for six hours while being tortured and kept in handcuffs. During that time, Oyamo said police officers pressured him to implicate Governor Obado in Sharon’s murder. He alleged that officers wanted him to sign a statement admitting that Obado had orchestrated the killing and had sent him to carry it out. “They wanted me to be part of the story and say the Governor organized the killing of the lady and sent me. They wanted me to put it in writing,” he said.
Oyamo also voiced concerns for his safety while in custody, expressing fears that he might have been poisoned. He detailed two separate entries made in the Occurrence Book (OB) at Uriri Police Station. In the first entry, he was listed as having reported an attempted abduction. However, in the second entry, police recorded that he was to be charged with a kidnapping offence.
Addressing another point of the investigation, Oyamo confirmed that he was in Kisii town on the morning of September 4, 2018, due to a canceled trip to Nairobi. However, he denied visiting any hospital or seeking medical attention that day.
The hearing was paused when the prosecution requested more time to prepare for cross-examining the second accused. The Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions explained that the defence had introduced new documents including travel records and Safaricom data—that the prosecution had not previously seen. She requested an adjournment to allow her team to review the materials with the investigating officer.
The court granted the request and directed the defence to share all new documents with the prosecution. The matter is scheduled to be mentioned again on June 11, 2025, for further directions.
