The mother of slain Rongo University student Sharon Otieno has spoken about the family’s painful eight-year journey, saying the conviction of former Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his two co-accused has delivered justice but cannot erase the grief they have endured since her daughter’s death.
Speaking days after the High Court convicted Obado, his former personal assistant Michael Oyamo and former Migori County clerk Caspal Obiero of Sharon’s murder, Melida Auma described the emotional, social and psychological burden the family has carried throughout the lengthy court process.
“It has not been easy for the family at large. The family has been grieving all the way through, and even after the judgment, we are still grieving, but because of God we shall not grieve forever; there is always life after death,” she said.
Auma said the pursuit of justice had been exhausting, with the family facing numerous challenges over the years.
“The journey has been very long, very hectic with a lot of challenges, socially, economically, emotionally, and psychologically. Psychologically, it has been tormenting; socially, there has been a lot of bullying on social media as if Sharon was not somebody’s daughter, as if she did not deserve dignity.”
Despite the convictions, she said the family was now preparing to begin a new chapter in their lives.
“It has not ended, this is now just a beginning of a new life in that chapter.”
While declining to comment directly on the court’s verdict, Auma said she believed justice had taken its course.
“About the judgement in court, I cannot say anything, but to say that the court had its own proceedings, whatever the judgement that was there on the 23rd, that was what God saw, but according to me, there is nothing I can say because I have mourned my daughter enough.”
She also revealed that she had chosen forgiveness despite the pain the family has endured.
“She has found justice but I have forgiven those who might have involved themselves in that act as a Christian.”
On July 23, Justice Cecilia Githua found Obado, Oyamo and Obiero guilty of murdering Sharon Otieno after ruling that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge held that the chain of circumstantial evidence presented during the trial sufficiently linked the three men to the killing, finding that they acted with a common intention in executing the crime.
Sharon Otieno, who was 26 years old and approximately seven months pregnant at the time, was abducted in September 2018 alongside journalist Barrack Oduor, who managed to escape after jumping from the attackers’ vehicle.
Her body was later discovered in a thicket near Kodera Forest in Homa Bay County, a killing that sparked nationwide outrage and culminated in one of Kenya’s most closely watched murder trials.
