This archive report was first published on 11 November 2019.
On November 27, 2019, a court will hear a petition by Migori County Governor Okoth Obado to disqualify a lawyer representing the family of murdered Rongo University student Sharon Otieno.
The governor claims that Prof. George Wajackoyah, the lawyer in question, has privileged information that may be revealed and/or shared with the prosecution, breaching his constitutional right to a fair trial and causing great miscarriage of justice.
According to Governor Obado, Prof. Wajackoyah paid him a visit at Gigiri Police Station on September 23, 2018, two days after his arrest, and sought his instructions on the murder case.
He further argued that, with the assurance that there was no conflict of interest, Prof. Wajackoyah was given instructions to represent him, citing his consultancy work with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
However, Governor Obado claims that when he was arraigned in court on September 24 last year, Prof. Wajackoyah was excluded despite being present, and later introduced himself as the advocate for the victim's family, continuing to represent them to date.
He also reasonably believes that the advocate's representation of the victims is aimed at advancing a certain mischief against him, citing a glaring conflict of interest on Prof. Wajackoyah's part.
