Remember the story that stopped Kenya in its tracks? A 26-year-old pregnant student, a powerful governor, and a journalist who jumped from a moving car to save his life. Well, after seven long years, there’s finally a verdict.

So, here’s what happened.

Former Migori Governor Okoth Obado has officially been found guilty of murdering Sharon Otieno, the young university student he’d been having an affair with, who was seven months pregnant at the time, cbinews.tv reports.

If you didn’t follow it back in 2018, it was absolutely chilling. Sharon’s body was found dumped in a thicket in western Kenya. And now, a court has ruled that it was no random killing.

Judge Cecilia Githua didn’t mince her words. On live TV, she said Obado “orchestrated a plot to eliminate Otieno” and that he “supplied motive, instigation and funds to finance the criminal enterprise”.

It wasn’t just him, either. His former PA, Michael Oyamo, was found to have “facilitated execution” and former county clerk Caspal Obiero “ensured logistical support and concealment”. All three are now behind bars waiting for sentencing.

For a lot of Kenyans, this feels like justice delayed but finally delivered. One lawyer for Sharon’s family put it simply: “We believe that justice has at last been served to Sharon.”

The detail that gripped everyone at the time, and still does is how the case unfolded. Sharon had actually contacted journalist Barack Oduor from Nation Media Group to talk about the affair. When they met up, they were both kidnapped. Oduor somehow managed to jump out of the speeding car and escape. Sharon didn’t. Two days later, she was found murdered - there was evidence she’d been raped and stabbed in the neck, stomach and back.

That brave escape ended up being the key to cracking the whole thing. Police tracked the kidnappers’ car and realised its tracker had been switched off on the day of the abduction and switched back on the next day. Prosecutors at the time said it was a “well-calculated move by the killers”.

The prosecution argued there had been an “intimate relationship” that led to a pregnancy Obado was “unhappy about”. Obado’s team had always said, look, the affair was no secret, there was no malice. The court wasn’t buying it.

In total, 42 witnesses were called, the case was built largely on circumstantial evidence that tied the three men together.

Beyond the courtroom, Sharon’s story became much bigger. It sparked protests across Kenya and forced a really uncomfortable but necessary conversation about violence against women. A 2022 survey found at least 34% of Kenyan women said they’d experienced physical violence. It’s a staggering number.

Sentencing is next. But for now, one chapter is finally closed.

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