Karua says DPP Haji 'morally unfit' to hold office, demands he resign or be fired

NARC Kenya Party leader Martha Karua has castigated the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji, following his recent remarks on his working relationship with former Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti.

Haji, on Sunday, said the fight against graft was characterised by mistrust over the manner in which the DCI packaged their evidence, leading to the withdrawal of major corruption cases.

The DPP claimed that his office was, for instance, misled to believe there was concrete evidence in the Ksh.7.4 billion graft case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, adding that he was “pushed by the DCI himself, through the media.”

“Over time, we discovered that the DCI was not serious in availing concrete evidence for cases. That is why we had a push-and-pull between the two offices. We could not proceed with the cases that didn’t meet our threshold. They lacked sufficient evidence to be presented in court,” Haji told KTN News.

Karua has come out to call out the chief prosecutor, saying his remarks are a self-revelation of moral unfitness to hold the DPP’s office.

“Any public officer especially a senior who says I was forced to do, or say reveals themselves to be morally unfit to hold office and should resign or be fired,” Karua said in a tweet on Tuesday.

“Swearing a false affidavit is a crime and DPP Haji ought to be taking steps against any DCI officer and any witness who confessed to have perjured themselves, otherwise we are being treated to a charade orchestrated to sanitize the politically correct,” the former Azimio La Umoja presidential running mate added.

According to Karua, the Office of the DPP should give room to the courts to determine the cases.

“The reason we have public trials is to allow the court of public opinion to judge for themselves if the process is fair and if the evidence warrants whatever action the court takes. Why can’t DPP Haji let the courts of law and the court of public opinion make a determination upon tendering the evidence publicly in all these high-profile matters?” she posed.

“Let every person including DPP Haji bear responsibility for their actions present and previous as our laws demand.”

In a move that elicited mixed reactions, the DPP last month withdraw cases involving prominent Kenyans, some of who were allies of President William Ruto.

They include the Ksh. 19 million graft case facing Gender CS Aisha Jumwa, where the DPP cited lack of evidence which he said had been obstructed by DCI.

He further claimed that the decision to charge Jumwa was not based on evidence and he could not allow "the miscarriage of justice".

"We asked for evidence and it was never availed and we had written more than five reminders to the DCI and it was never forthcoming," Haji said. 

While accusing Kinoti of frivolously running the DCI, Haji said the investigative agency was not accessible with enough evidence on a number of cases, forcing him to withdraw the cases.

In another case, DPP Haji also filed – then later withdrew – an application seeking to have the Ksh.80 million corruption case against former Samburu Governor Moses Lenolkulal withdrawn.

The prosecution told the court that DPP Haji had decided to withdraw the earlier application and proceed with the prosecution of the matter in line with the dates that had been set earlier.