Michael Juma Oyamo, the former personal assistant to ex-Migori Governor Okoth Obado, has denied orchestrating or participating in the abduction and murder of Rongo University student Sharon Otieno. 

Appearing before High Court Judge Cecilia Githua at the Milimani Law Courts, Oyamo gave a detailed account of his interactions with Sharon on the evening she was killed, distancing himself from the crime and rejecting the prosecution’s theory of his involvement.

Prosecution alleges Oyamo planned the murder in the house of Obado’s aide and lured the late 26-year-old Rongo University student Otieno to her death in a hotel in Rongo

Oyamo told the court that on September 3, 2018, he met Sharon and a journalist, referred to in court proceedings as XYZ, at Gracias Hotel in Rongo Town, where Sharon was drinking Penasol wine.

“I found Sharon and XYZ seated and drinking. There were two glasses on the table. They were drinking Penasol wine,” Oyamo testified, recalling the last moments with Otieno before she was killed that night.

 “I even quarrelled with XYZ why he had allowed a pregnant woman to consume alcohol.”

Oyamo said he had initially arranged to meet Sharon and the journalist at Trit House Hotel, but the venue was changed when Sharon insisted on meeting at Gracias Hotel, which she said belonged to a relative.

“I took a matatu from Migori, then a bodaboda from Trit House to Gracias Hotel,” Oyamo explained, adding that he chose the unconventional mode of transport to avoid delays caused by road construction.

READ: Okoth Obado: My relationship with Sharon Otieno was an open secret

According to Oyamo, the purpose of the meeting was to address Sharon’s complaints about financial support and to resolve the friction she had with both XYZ and the late MCA Lawrence Mula, who had previously assisted her as an intermediary between her and Governor Obado.

The court heard that during the meeting at around 7pm, Sharon expressed her desire to handle her affairs directly with Governor Obado, without interference from XYZ or Mula.

This followed concerns she raised that the money provided by the governor for her welfare and that of her unborn child was being split three ways, with XYZ and Mula allegedly taking a share for themselves  

Oyamo gave an instance where on August 15, 2018, he was sent again by the boss to take Sh 100,000 to Mula for Sharon’s welfare.

However, the following day he received a call from Sharon telling him an issue had emerged between Mula and XYZ, the journalist was complaining on him meeting Mula in his absence.

“Sharon said she had asked Mula to stop being involved in her affairs. As for XYZ, she said she had shared too much personal information with him and wanted him out of her life, too,” Oyamo said.

He revealed that Sharon had proposed paying XYZ a token sum to encourage him to stop publishing her story about the love affair they had with Obado and return sensitive information, including pictures.

“Sharon suggested we give XYZ some money to thank him and ensure he wouldn’t publish anything damaging. She warned me not to ever hand her any money in front of them,” Oyamo testified. 

“On that day, I told her I had Sh100,000 but agreed to first give her half.”

ALSO READ: Obado: My affair with Sharon ended due to her ‘inconsistencies’

Oyamo stated that he later stepped away to the washroom, where he separated the cash into two bundles. 

He returned and gave Sharon Sh50,000, including Sh10,000 for transportation. 

Oyamo further informed the court that Sharon kept the Sh250 change from the Sh1,000 bill used to pay for the wine she took that evening at Gracias hotel.

The prosecution had alleged that Oyamo lured the duo into a vehicle parked outside the Gracias hotel, which was used in their abduction.

However, Oyamo denied those claims.

“After the meeting, we walked to the parking lot. There was only one vehicle, a black Toyota Wish, which was to take them back to Homa Bay,” he recounted.

 “XYZ led Sharon to the car, and I bid them goodbye. As Sharon entered the vehicle, I held her hand briefly and gave her the remaining Sh50,000 which l had separated.”

“I did not enter that car as claimed by the prosecution witness XYZ. I remained with the hotel watchman as he looked for a bodaboda to take me back to Rongo town. I was heading to Migori, while they were going to Homa Bay in different directions.”

Oyamo also denied accusations by XYZ that he instructed them to board the vehicle or that he sat in the front seat. 

“Those are falsehoods. l do not know whether there were other occupants in the car,” he said.

He told the court that after leaving the premises, he went back to Migori to the governor’s residence in Rapogi before the proceedings to his home to sleep at around 10 pm.

Oyamo also disputed the prosecution’s claim that the murder plan was orchestrated on the morning of September 3, 2018, at the home of one Olivia Oloo, the wife of co-accused Caspal Obiero.

“I was not at Olivia’s home that morning. I was in Migori town preparing for an official trip to Rwanda scheduled for September 4, 2018,” Oyamo said.

 “We were finalizing travel allowances since the county had no money and Obado had to travel to Rwanda to represent the council of governors since he was chair of agriculture of the committee.”

He also denied knowing Jackson Gombe, a taxi driver who allegedly transported Oyamo and others on the day of the murder.

Oyamo said he did not know the taxi driver prior to the case and refuted Gombe’s testimony that he had picked him from Uriri Junction in vehicle KCL 481K and driven him to Olivia’s house, where the murder of Sharon was planned.

“Gombe lied to the court. I was not at Olivia’s house, and my car was never there,” Oyamo said.

“I completed my duties at Rapogi that afternoon and then proceeded to the Migori County offices, where I was busy making final arrangements on Rwanda to travel.”

According to call logs submitted by the prosecution, Oyamo’s location data was blank on the morning of September 3 when the murder was being planned at the house of his co-accused house Obiero.

But Oyamo presented fresh call records showing he was in Uriri that morning and later at the governor’s residence decrecating the evidence of prosecution that he w Obiero house.

“My lady, my phone was on that morning, and I made several calls. The call data clearly places me in Uriri, where I woke up, and later at Rapogi.”

 Oyamo also dismissed the prosecution’s claim that an earlier attempt to murder Sharon and XYZ had been made during their trip to Nairobi in late August 2018.

He refuted the claims, asserting that the sole purpose of Sharon, XYZ, and Mula’s trip to Nairobi on August 24, 2018, was to meet Governor Obado regarding her welfare.

Oyamo told the court that he sent KSh 22,500 to facilitate Sharon and XYZ’s flight to Nairobi. 

However, the money was not sent directly by him, but rather through a hotel waiter at a city establishment.”

The court further heard that upon their arrival in Nairobi, Sharon and XYZ stayed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for over three hours.

 It was not until around 11 a.m., after Sharon protested the prolonged delay, that they were not being given directions regarding the venue where they were to meet Governor Obado.

 Oyamo testified that at a few minutes to noon, he attempted to call Sharon, but she did not answer. 

Instead, XYZ picked up the call and informed him that they had left the airport and were now at Capital Centre along Mombasa Road, and Sharon was unwell. 

 Oyamo further told the court that Sharon, XYZ, and Mula never got an opportunity to meet the governor as they had been promised.

“They arrived late, and I couldn’t arrange a meeting that evening. On the morning of August 25, I was trying to schedule one but they were already upset,” he said.

Oyamo stated that the three went back to Migori disappointed, which created tension in their relationship with the governor. 

Sharon reportedly wanted to communicate with the governor directly and cut ties with all intermediaries, including Oyamo, XYZ, and Mula.

“Sharon felt that the two of us, XYZ, and Mula were benefiting from her welfare budget,” Oyamo revealed. 

“She wanted everyone out of the picture, and I discouraged her from that unless the governor said so.”

To ease communication after the fallout, Oyamo said he bought an Airtel line on August 27.

“The trio was upset, and I knew my Safaricom line would be off when I was with the governor. So I got an Airtel line, 0739473321, for easier communication.”

The prosecution’s theory is that Oyamo lured Sharon and XYZ into a trap under the pretext of resolving financial issues.

 After Sharon was found brutally murdered in Kodera Forest in Homa Bay County on September 4, 2018, suspicion fell heavily on Oyamo, His boss Obadoa and aid Obiero

In contrast, Oyamo maintains that his role was limited to logistics and mediation.

ALSO READ: Court finds Obado has a case to answer in Sharon Otieno murder

“It’s not true that the trip to Nairobi was an attempt to harm Sharon. I was only facilitating her meeting with the governor,” Oyamo said.

 “I never took part in any plan to harm her.”

Oyamo denied all allegations of being at Olivia’s house, participating in abduction, or ever giving orders related to Sharon’s fate.

“I did not plan or participate in Sharon Otieno’s murder.”

Oyamo also told the court that the police conducted a DNA test on him about the unborn child carried by the deceased, who was widely reported to have been Governor Obado’s lover. 

He testified that the test was ordered to determine whether he could have been the father of the baby.

‘The results presented to the court confirmed that I was not the biological father of the child Sharon was carrying,’ Oyamo stated.

He further emphasised that he had no personal or intimate relationship with Sharon that could have led to a pregnancy.

Oyamo told the court that he first came to know about Sharon in July 2018, initially through rumors, and later through two individuals who contacted him requesting a meeting with his then-boss, Migori Governor Obado, over the love affair.

The defence hearing continues