EACC to sell by auction Obado's Sh505 million prime properties

A collage of former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and EACC HQ in Nairobi./FILE

The EACC has advertised sale by auction the properties that include 10 prime assets in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Migori counties that were surrendered following a plea bargain deal.

EACC and Obado entered the out-of-court deal aimed at resolving Obado’s corruption case through alternative dispute resolution.

“The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, in exercise of its powers of sale as granted by various courts, shall sell the undermentioned properties by public auction,” the notice starts.

The anti-graft body says it has engaged Galaxy Auctioneers, Keysian Auctioneers and Astorion Auctioneers to conduct the said auction slated for diverse dates next month in Nairobi, Kisumu and Migori.

Interested buyers have been asked to view the properties and verify details, and to pay a refundable deposit of Sh500,000 by banker’s cheque to obtain a bidding number, which also serves as an entry pass.

The assets are registered in the names of Obado’s proxies, who were implicated in the irregular acquisition of public funds between 2013 and 2017.

They were charged alongside Obado and others at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on offences of economic crimes, money laundering, and unlawful acquisition of public property.

EACC says in the public advertisement that the auction will include a mix of residential, commercial, and office properties, with Kwaga forfeiting six assets, including residential apartments and maisonettes in Greenspan Estate, Nairobi, as well as two identical residential blocks in Suna East/Wasweta, Migori, each containing 10 apartments.

Other properties include Sunrise Centre, a storeyed office block with detached commercial buildings along the Migori–Kisii road, and a townhouse in Loresho Ridge Estate, Nairobi.

Up for sale also is a 0.119-acre plot in Suna East/Wasweta, Migori, developed with two identical blocks of one-bedroom rental units along the Migori–Isebania highway.

A three-bedroom apartment in Riara, Nairobi, and a parcel of land in Kisumu’s Lolwe Estate developed with a four-storey block of flats registered in the name of Obwa is also in the market. She was previously sued by the EACC in a separate recovery suit involving Sh318 million.

Successful bidders must pay 10 per cent of the purchase price on the day of the auction, with the remaining 90 per cent settled within 60 days.

Earlier this month, Obado’s corruption case was adjourned after the trial court was informed that EACC had entered it no an agreement to have to ex-governor and his associates surrender some of their ill-gotten wealth.

Obado, who served as the first Governor of Migori between 2013 and 2022, and his co-accused face charges of embezzling approximately Sh505 million in public funds through irregular procurement processes and fraudulent transactions.

The charges include abuse of office, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit economic crimes, among others.