By Adrian Wesonga
The DPP, Noordin Haji disclosed that the October 12 decision to withdraw high-profile graft cases against former Kenya Power MD Ben Chumo and 10 others and former Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa was not made abruptly.
In an interview yesterday with KTN News, Mr. Haji revealed that former DCI boss, Mr. George Kinoti failed to produce enough evidence to prosecute those cases.
“We asked the office of DCI on several occasions to provide strong evidence for us to go on with those cases and make full disclosure in a court of law, but they failed. When we realized that this was not the fourth coming, we had no other alternative but to drop some cases” said Mr. Haji.
He further asserted that the decision to drop the cases was made in conjunction with other players in the legal fraternity including the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
Haji stated that their files are open for public scrutiny, adding that though the cases were dropped, the files have not been completely closed. Should new information arise from investigations, he is open to prosecuting the cases afresh.
On if there was any kind of war or misunderstanding between two offices (DPP and DCI)
The DPP alluded to ulterior motives from the DCI, making it hard for him to carry out his mandate, terming serious evidence as a factor in prosecuting cases, something he insisted the DCI failed to provide.
“The main point of contention was the decision to charge, my office come up with this decision. However, we realized that DCI at that time wasn’t serious about providing the required evidence, we had to pull a shovel between two offices. When I come in back in 2018, I was very motivated and I believed that everybody was going to adhere to his lane and deliver according to his mandate but when you have a colleague who is motivated with other motives then it’s very hard for you to deliver your mandate, especially in this line of law. My work depends on serious evidence but nothing else.” The DPP said.
Apart from the two high-profile cases, the DPP dropped several other cases upon review, among them cases against human rights defenders who were arrested illegally and charged falsely by police officers.