Fear and Persecution: Migori School Administrator Becomes Fugitive Amidst Threats from Alleged Gang Linked to Former Governor

A Migori County Private school administrator Mr.Wicklife Ouma fears for his life after a series of happenings around him. The man who is an administrator at a school that he established, with the aim of empowering his community through access to affordable quality education now finds himself a fugitive in his home county.

He says his woes started after the mysterious death of his cousin, Otieno. “I had been very close to Sharon. Our relationship grew closer after she joined Rongo University, which is about 20 kilometers from my parent’s home”.

Her sensational murder drew the interest and wrath of the public and particularly because it involved the former Migori County Governor, Mr. Okoth Obado, who is one of the key suspects in the ongoing, protracted murder trial. Sharon was abducted by unknown people on September 3, 2018, alongside a journalist who escaped death by jumping from a moving vehicle, leaving her behind with the abductors. Her mutilated body and that of her unborn child was later found in K’odera forest in Oyugis, Homabay County.

Wickliffe, Brayden and Sharlyne

Naturally, as a cousin, he was interested in ensuring that the murder is resolved as soon as possible, and the perpetrators are brought to book. This was an important closure to him as someone who was close to Sharon and to the extended family as well. However, one of the sticking paradoxes about this murder was that the key suspect, Governor Obado is also a neighbor to the administrator; the school, Governor Obado’s home and his home were all bordering one another.

His willingness to assist the investigators unraveling the mystery behind his cousin’s gruesome murder proved costly as he started receiving warnings and intimidations. He receives calls from strange numbers and sometimes private numbers. What stuck out is the constant reminder that they knew his involvement in the case. At first, he brushed them aside thinking it was a bunch of friends who were playing pranks on him, however it became clear to him that it was no longer pranks but reality when he was accosted by two men in a white unmarked car on his way home from work in the evening.

“We know you know us and you know what we can do. But if you do not know us, ask around who Sangwenya is, nothing scares us in this county, we are the untouchables. Be warned that if you keep on working against the governor and selling him out you will find what you are looking for. This time we come to deliver a polite message; it will not be polite next time.”

Sangwenya is a known ruthless gang that has claimed pledges allegiance to Govenor Obado and operates within Migori County to suppress divergent opinions across using whatever means possible. According to victims who have come face to face with Sangwenya, the gang operates like the County government’s department of defense and interior at the same time. The only difference is some of their activities are questionable. So rampant and audacious was the Sangwenya gang that they once executed their acts using the county marked vehicles while disrupting the election of the speaker of the Migori County.

It is clear to Mr. Wicklife that he is now up against the county boss and his goons. His conviction was to find the truth behind the murder of Sharon. He reported the matter to the local police on several occasions but claims he was dismissed without even recording a statement on the guise of lack of evidence. This just fueled the fear that even the local police would not touch matters touching on Sangwenya.

The former governor Mr. Okoth Obado, is also known to be a man who will stop at nothing just to have his way. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission had accused him of mismanaging the county funds to the tune of Ksh. 73Million. The agency obtained a court order to reposes some of the properties he acquired from the proceeds of the mismanagement to which Mr. Obado had not fully complied to disregarding the court order.

As Mr. Ouma struggles to save his life and family his whereabouts unknown to his relatives and friends, questions linger about the unchecked power wielded by those in positions of authority, and the urgent need for justice and accountability in a society fraught with fear and persecution.

By George Odiwuor